Three deadly parrot viruses now in Australia
Rosslyn Beeby, The Canberra Times
September 8, 2007



Scientists claim at least three deadly contagious bird diseases have by-passed Australia's quarantine controls and will spread to native parrots and cockatoos.

Pacific region wildlife trade watchdog, Traffic Oceania, has also urged the Federal Government to introduce a compulsory DNA register of all exotic pet birds in Australia to control bird smuggling and the disease risks it poses to native species.

One of the newly arrived contagious bird diseases Pacheco's virus, which kills birds within 48 hours is thought to have caused the deaths last year of 46 orange-bellied parrot chicks at acaptive breeding aviary in Hobart.

The other two recent arrivals are proventricular dilatation disease known as macaw wasting disease and an avian papilloma virus.

Tasmanian bird disease expert Dr James Harris and Charles Sturt University veterinary professor Shane Raidal said orange-bellied parrot chicks captive-bred at Adelaide Zoo could have caught Pacheco's virus from a seized consignment of smuggled South American parrots.

The parrots were temporarily housed at the zoo's quarantine facilities after being confiscated by enforcement authorities. Research suggests the virus can be transmitted by human handling or on clothing in a manner similar to equine influenza.

The director of the University of Sydney's wildlife health centre, Professor David Phalen, said, "There's no question about it Pacheco's disease is already here. It's got into this country somehow, and we've got to learn to deal with it".

Traffic Oceania director Glenn Sant said smuggling exotic birds into Australia had increased after a compulsory federal registration scheme for owners of exotic birds was disbanded in 2001 by former environment minister Robert Hill.

"When the Government wound back legislation controlling keeping of exotic birds, it created a huge loophole allowing birds to be imported illegally because there was no paperwork to prove origin of ownership.

"It created a massive problem and the Government has known this all along," he said.
In a confidential report to the Government in 2005, Mr Sant recommended a DNA register of exotic birds to stamp out smuggling and control the spread of new diseases to Australia's native birds.

"The Government must be prepared to invest in protection of Australia's native bird species and their conservation status," he said.

canberra.yourguide.com.au

How sad. I hope they get it under controle quickly.