Whilst much of the recent publicity about Avian Influenza has been exaggerated media hype, it has made birdkeepers sit up and think about risks of contamination to their birds, and that in itself is no bad thing.  There are many other more common infectious diseases out there – salmonellosis, psittacosis, yersiniosis to name but three - that you need to guard against on an ongoing basis. A good review, therefore, of biosecurity – techniques to keep your birds safe from infection – is timely, and the following is summarised largely from DEFRA advice in the wake of Avian ‘Flu publicity, mixed with some clinical experience. 

INFECTIOUS DISEASES are caused by germs, and these include viruses, bacteria, and protozoa. Infections may be spread by direct contact from bird to bird, by mutual preening, by sneezing or vomiting over each other, or via infected droppings. Alternatively, germs may be distributed indirectly, in the air, in contaminated food or water, or carried on the owner’s clothes or shoes. 

Infections vary considerably in their incubation period – this is the time taken between exposure of the animal to the infectious agent, and the onset of clinical signs. [I shall deal in more detail with the meaning of scientific terms such as infectious and contagious, signs and symptoms, in a later article] Avian Influenza, for example, shows within 3 – 5 days, while other conditions such as psittacosis or Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease may take 9 months or more to incubate. 

There is also the problem of carrier birds, which are actively infected, and may be contagious to other birds, but show no clinical signs of disease themselves. 

General rules of good biosecurity are as follows: 

1)    Food and water bowls should be cleaned, disinfected, and replenished daily.  This is especially true in the summer, when dirty water becomes a bacterial soup, and soft foods ferment and spoil quickly.  Droppings will soil food and water, and stale material will attract flies. In the present situation, outdoor birds should be fed and watered under cover in a shed to prevent wild birds or rodents contaminating the supplies. 

2)     General tidiness and cleanliness of the premises are paramount.  Spilled food, litter, or standing water will attract vermin. 

3)     Storage of food is important.  Sealable plastic or metal bins will prevent rodent contamination, or damp spoiling the food.  If you have only a few birds, do not be tempted to try to save money by buying large quantities in bulk.  The nutritional quality will deteriorate long before you use it all. 

4)      Buy food of good quality from a reputable supplier – again do not be tempted to save a few pennies by buying cheap, discounted goods. It is more likely to be dirty or contaminated than better quality mixes that have been thoroughly cleaned and properly stored. 

5)      Make sure your clothes, footwear and hands are clean before contact with your birds.  With outdoor aviaries, a disinfectant footbath is a good idea, and a disinfectant hand wash is easily placed close to the cage/aviary or food preparation area. 

6)     Much as you may be proud of your birds, and wish to show them off to friends and neighbours, be careful that visitors are not bringing in infection.  At the present time, it is a good idea to restrict the number of visitors.  Commercial birdkeepers should seriously consider closing their premises to outsiders while the current threat of ‘flu continues. Again, the provision of a footbath and a hand wash is sensible. 

7)     Take care when buying new birds.  At the moment, it is probably better not to buy, sell or exchange birds at all, but if you have to, make sure you use a reputable source of disease-free stock, with good biosecurity methods in place at the supplier. 

8)     Isolate and quarantine new birds (or even birds that have been away from your premises for a while) before mixing them with existing stock.  The stress of a move and change of surroundings will lower the bird’s immune system, and allow infections that are dormant to become active.  New birds may be carrying germs to which your native birds may have no immunity.  The quarantine period will allow time for such infections to show themselves; you can give probiotics, a good diet, and perhaps extra vitamins and minerals to help them over the stress period; and diagnostic tests on droppings, feathers, or blood may be carried out.

The length of quarantine has to be tempered by practicality, and the potential diseases that may be involved.  The official time for birds imported to the UK is 30 days – this is plenty of time to detect notifiable diseases such as Newcastle Disease and Avian Influenza. Common problems such as E. coli or Salmonella should show themselves within 5 – 7 days.  So for most practical purposes, 10 days would be enough for many of the birds we keep.  However, if you have valuable parrots, and there is a potential risk of PBFD, PDD, or psittacosis, then you may have to consider extended isolation for nine months!

This may all seem a pain, but so many times have I seen situations where one bird of a pair has died, the owner has gone straight out and bought a replacement, which is placed immediately with the survivor, only to find either the new bird or the original survivor also dead within a few days.  This is because there was some infection present that killed the first bird, and was still active in its mate, but no diagnosis was made, and no time was taken to clear the problem before introducing new stock. 

9)     Be vigilant – as I have mentioned before, get to know your birds and how they behave, so that you can spot signs of trouble as soon as they develop.  Do not leave it too late.  Take action by consulting your vet if you spot anything abnormal – change in attitude or behaviour, altered droppings or feeding patterns, reduced egg production, or specific signs such as vomiting, breathing difficulties, weakness, fluffed appearance, etc, etc. 

These simple precautions will hopefully ensure that your birds remain fit and well, not only during current scare but as an ongoing process of good bird-keeping!

 Alan K Jones Feb 2007.