I was just reading that in India, and somewhere else that I have forgotten, they are killing thousands of chickens. They have found chickens that had avian flu, and it is possibly the kind that can spread to humans, so they are killing the chickens to prevent the flu from spreading.
The interesting part is that they think that the chickens got the avian flu from wild birds flying into the area and transmitting the flu to the chickens.
So, what I have been wondering , is if the flu originally came from wild birds, could it also spread to pet birds like canaries and parakeets ? ?
It would seem to me that if it can spread from a wild bird to a domestic chicken, that it could also spread to someone's pet bird, and then to the owner of the bird, since it is the variety of avian flu that is contagious to humans.
I do not think that is likely. Pet birds are almost always indoors all the time. That prevents them from coming into direct contact with any wild bird. I do not think a pet bird would be at risk of catching avian flu unless the pet owner also had chickens and a chicken contracted it. In that case it might be possible for the pet owner to expose the pet bird to the virus after touching the sick chicken. Other than that, the only way a pet bird could catch something that is spreading in the wild is if the pet owner had it, or had it on their body or clothing when handling the bird. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
The problem of avian flu spreading to pet birds in not a far fetched one. Nowadays, people have complex interactions and it would take a singular case of exposure to get the disease to someone's home. Avian flu is a rapidly spreading epidemic. Sometimes one has to release the pet birds from their cages and transfer them for cleaning or repair purposes. Since avian flu is zoonotic, it can easily spread to the pet owner from other affected birds in the compound and then to the pets. But this is not a clear and present danger since corrective mechanisms like disinfection and proper handling of animals wearing gloves would prevent the spread of avian flu in most situations. In one does not sea chicken of other birds vulnerable to avian flu in the compound, the danger of avian flu is minimal.
