| Description:
|
Pacheco's disease
is caused by a herpesvirus. The disease is dreaded by
aviculturalists because it is very devastating and often
fatal. It was first recognized in Brazil when birds
started dying several days after becoming ill. Macaws,
amazons, african greys, cockatoos, budgies, cockatiels
and conures are some of the species that can be infected.
Patagonian and Nanday conures are frequently asymptomatic
carriers. Any bird that survives an outbreak should
be considered a "latent" carrier of the virus.
Infected birds may die suddenly or show nonspecific
signs such as lethargy, anorexia, ruffled feathers,
sinusitis and intermittent diarrhea. Urates may become
green, indicating that liver damage has occurred. The
first sign of a problem often occurs when a seemingly
"healthy" carrier bird is introduced into
a collection and birds start to die suddenly. Any type
of stress (e.g., breeding) can activate the virus and
result in its being shed in large numbers in the feces.
The incubation period is thought to be as short as several
days in some of the smaller parrots. |
