Bornavirus

[Tmf2117]

Hello all, I recently brought home my new baby, a 4 month old blue throat macaw. I took her right away to get her tests at the vet and she came back positive for bornavirus. From what I read online is ALL horror stories. She appears super healthy, eating like a champ, and very playful. As I do research, it seems a high amount of parrots do test positive but tend to live long healthy lives if they don’t develop PDD. Do you happen to have any personal experience with this, can you suggest any videos to watch or know someone who has Dealt with this?

 

[April]

@Hankmacaw sadly has experience with this terrible disease

 

[Hankmacaw]

@Tmf2117
I have a 35y yo GW female who has had PDD for almost a year now. I will suggest (highly) a couple of things for you to read and to watch. These are the absolute most accurate and most well informed veterinarians about Avian Bournaviral Ganglionueritis (PDD) in the world. Dr. Orosaz and Dr. Dalhausen have done as much research and have published as anyone.

First read;
https://lafeber.com/vet/wp-content/uploads/Avian-Bornaviral-Ganglioneuritis-in-Clinical-Practice.pdf
Then watch;

Webinar: Avian Bornavirus: Common Signs and Treatments – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

Join us Friday, July 30, for a special webinar on Avian Bornavirus(ABV) and how it can affect various parrot species. Susan Orosz Ph.D., DVM, DABVP (Avian), DECZM (Avian) will discuss this complex neurologic disease, including symptoms and some therapies that can help.

lafeber.com

First did your bird have the anti-ganglioside assay test? It is the only one that is entirely reliable for positive results.

If your bird is positive, realize that it may not have PDD and may live along healthy life with avian bourna virus. I must be frank though - it is more likely that very young birds will develop the disease and will die from PDD. It is widely believed that the main method of transmit ion of ABV is from the mother through the egg. You should immediately let the breeder know, so he can take the mother out of the breeding pool.

I have kept Kitty (my GW) alive for virtually a year now with full blown PDD and she has other serious health issues - severe atherosclerosis, significant pulmonary hypertensive syndrome and has recently developed pancreatitis. The means for my keeping her alive and pretty comfortable are the wonderful participation by my vet in her health and making sure Kitty has everything that Dr. Dalhausen recommends in his memo Avian-Bornaviral-Ganglioneuritis-in-Clinical-Practice. Plus I started hand feeding her immediately - in macaws the digestive system is more affected than the central nervous system.

After you have read and watched the above recommended materials, contact me with any questions you may have. I will help as muchas I can.

 

[April]

@Tmf2117
I have a 35y yo GW female who has had PDD for almost a year now. I will suggest (highly) a couple of things for you to read and to watch. These are the absolute most accurate and most well informed veterinarians about Avian Bournaviral Ganglionueritis (PDD) in the world. Dr. Orosaz and Dr. Dalhausen have done as much research and have published as anyone.

First read;
https://lafeber.com/vet/wp-content/uploads/Avian-Bornaviral-Ganglioneuritis-in-Clinical-Practice.pdf
Then watch;

Webinar: Avian Bornavirus: Common Signs and Treatments – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

Join us Friday, July 30, for a special webinar on Avian Bornavirus(ABV) and how it can affect various parrot species. Susan Orosz Ph.D., DVM, DABVP (Avian), DECZM (Avian) will discuss this complex neurologic disease, including symptoms and some therapies that can help.

lafeber.com

First did your bird have the anti-ganglioside assay test? It is the only one that is entirely reliable for positive results.

If your bird is positive, realize that it may not have PDD and may live along healthy life with avian bourna virus. I must be frank though - it is more likely that very young birds will develop the disease and will die from PDD. It is widely believed that the main method of transmit ion of ABV is from the mother through the egg. You should immediately let the breeder know, so he can take the mother out of the breeding pool.

I have kept Kitty (my GW) alive for virtually a year now with full blown PDD and she has other serious health issues - severe atherosclerosis, significant pulmonary hypertensive syndrome and has recently developed pancreatitis. The means for my keeping her alive and pretty comfortable are the wonderful participation by my vet in her health and making sure Kitty has everything that Dr. Dalhausen recommends in his memo Avian-Bornaviral-Ganglioneuritis-in-Clinical-Practice. Plus I started hand feeding her immediately - in macaws the digestive system is more affected than the central nervous system.

After you have read and watched the above recommended materials, contact me with any questions you may have. I will help as muchas I can.

As always all the to you Mary. The fact that even though you and Kitty are suffering with this disease that your still willing to talk about it and her and being willing to be there for others is so wonderful of you. You truly are an angel on earth

 

[Sparkles!]

Have you contacted her breeder? All of the blue throats that I know are being conservation bred and the parents highly vetted and tested. If this baby truly has it from a positive AG assay, this is a huge hit to the breeding pair.

 

[Hankmacaw]

@April I'm quite pragmatic - some say unfeeling (not true). When I found out that Kitty was as ill as she is - it is what it is. No changing it and the only thing to do was to find the best, kindest pathway through though the maze. Talking about it is just talking and possibly helping someone else along. That's what I promised Hank I would do after he died following a 15 year hard fought battle by him.

 

[April]

@April I'm quite pragmatic - some say unfeeling (not true). When I found out that Kitty was as ill as she is - it is what it is. No changing it and the only thing to do was to find the best, kindest pathway through though the maze. Talking about it is just talking and possibly helping someone else along. That's what I promised Hank I would do after he died following a 15 year hard fought battle by him.

Oh my gosh no way your unfeeling! The love and care for all your Fids past and present always comes through in your posts.. I have no doubt in my mind that you have helped so many parrots by sharing your struggles and all that you have learned over the years. It's such a blessing as it were for the avian community as a whole but I'm sorry that you and your Fids have/had all these struggles over the years that make it so.

 

[Tmf2117]

I appreciate everyone reaching out. I read the article and watched that particular video yesterday. I’m going to reach back out to my vet to see if the anti-ganglioside assay test was done. As far as I know right now, the test done was just a standard test, all of the other test came back good. Are there a lot of false-positives that you know of? I did not get her from a breeder, I got her from a exotic parrot store. I reached out to them and they basically told me it’s very common in the bird population, almost 40% test positive and Not all cases of ABV turn into PDD. My head is spinning right now will all the information and research.

 

[Hankmacaw]

They are partially correct. False positives are almost zero with the AGA test. If your vet did not have that assay performed, I recommend that it be performed and the sample (sent very, very carefully) to Dr. Dalhausen's laboratory.

It is approximately 30% of the parrot population (both captive and wild) are positive for the the ABV virus. Yes many, many birds do have the ABV virus and never develop the PDD disease. Young birds are more likely to convert from ABV to PDD.

Did the store know she had ABV prior to selling her to you? Where did they get her from? She came from a breeder at some point - not many backyard breeders of Blue Throats. They are one of the restricted birds on the CITES list in the USA now.