Collected Item: “COVID-19 And Pet Birds”
Give your story a title.
COVID-19 And Pet Birds
What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?
text story
Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.
As a parrot owner, I was initially concerned at the start of the pandemic that the virus could be transferred to my avian companions. While I know that viruses are often species-specific, mutations can allow them to jump species. Birds have incredibly delicate respiratory systems, so a respiratory illness in a bird is often deadly. This article from bird food producer Lafaeber explains why caution is warranted by not panic. It is now more than a year since this article has been written, and I am no longer concerned about my parrots catching COVID-19. I belong to many bird groups on social media and have yet to hear of a pet bird who caught the disease.
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
Pandemic Pets, pet, bird, avian, parrot, COVID-19, caution, virus, spread
Enter a URL associated with this object, if relevant.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/covid-19-and-pet-birds/
Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)
Stephanie Lamb, DVM, DABVP (Avian Practice)
Give this story a date.
2020-03-15