Bird Flu in California

[DonnaBudgie]

I just read that California has declared a State of Emergency for Bird Flu detected in poultry and dairy cattle and in humans who have contact with the cattle. Is this something we need to worry about? I'm going to California in a couple week (not avoidable), and don't want my birds to get sick. I'm not going to any farms.

 

[texsize]

I don’t know the answer to this but….
For a virus to jump species it has to mutate (acquire dna/rna ) from the new species.
Once it has made the “jump” to another species I don’t think it could nessisary “jump back” to the original host because of the new dna/rna incorporated in the virus.

Not a Dr. but I like reading medical thrillers (written by M.D.’s).

 

[DonnaBudgie]

What I read is to not keep your birds outdoors where they can be exposed to things like this plus wild bird parasites.

Apparently cows are getting it from poultry and people are getting it from cows but people aren't transmitting it to other people. But can birds get it from people? Who knows. As much as i love cows and chickens, I'm not going to any farms. I wonder if our egg supply could get infected.

 

[Jcas]

DonnaBudgie, I wouldn’t worry. I am not a doctor or vet but as a chicken owner, I’ve researched into Avian flu and while the media likes to hype how dangerous it is every year there’s really no chance that you will contract it and get sick or bring it home to your birds by visiting California. Human cases are super rare and are the result of long, frequent exposure ( like chicken farmers). Other mammals can ( again, rarely) get infected by eating sick poultry. Chicken actually makes it into a lot of commercial animal feed which may be how the cows are getting infected. The illness is rarely serious in mammals as the virus is not well adapted to them. If you were going to be spending a day at a chicken farm and not washing your clothes or hands afterwards, then that could be a concern for bringing the virus home. But just by being in the state, you are not running any risk to yourself or your beautiful budgie friends

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Thank you!

 

[kme3388]

I did ask my vet this question as my husband is a wild fowl hunter, and we have 4 parrots. She told me to just make sure he changes his clothes when he gets home, and showers if he is handling wild birds just to prevent the transmission of diseases. She also told me to not volunteer at shelters any further for the same purpose as one of my parrots was diagnosed with bornavirus which makes him susceptible to getting sick. Not that he himself is going to kill other parrots by having bornavirus. Flu, and viruses aren’t my area of expertise by any means. I hope one day that we can vaccinate our parrots as we do humans.