I realise lately that several members have birds which are sick... Which has led me to think:

 

1) What are the chances of a single pet budgie passing on disease/ sicknesses to us humans?

2) What sort of diseases/ sicknesses CAN be passed to humans? I've recently seen in the posts the diseases psitticosis and coccidiosis.....

3) Are there precautions I should be taking seeing that I have a baby in the family?

 

I've just started to question my decision on bringing in a new pet (especially one I'm new at with knowledge) into our home when I have a 6 month old son............

I love animals...... and I try my very best to give my all to every new pet..... but at the end of the day my son is number one..........

 

I would really appreciate it if everyone gave their thoughts about this as I am really starting to worry.............

Psittacosis can be passed onto humans, but it will be passed on by contagious birds showing symptoms, and via the droppings dust. I think you will be safe with anything else. One budgie wont give you anything unless he is really really sick with psittacosis. Well those are my thoughts anyway.

Thanks Kaz, for your thoughts... It does help...

I did notice that the members that have budgies that are currently sick are breeders....

 

Should I still be extremely careful with whatever Budgie touches though? ie: Not let my son touch it; make sure I disinfect it; always wash hands after touching Budgie, before touching my son... etc?....

 

Budgie is allowed out of his cage anywhere from 3 to 5 hours a day as I am home most of the time and am constantly with my son...

This however, does mean that he does poop around the house... but I go around looking out for poop and cleaning them up immediately....

And Budgie is very often on my shoulder during his "out of cage" moments as he demands just as much attention from me as my son does! :rofl:

My son is at the "everything looks good to eat" stage at the moment which means that he puts everything and anything that he can get his hands on into his mouth.......

This is why I am so concerned as my son getting sick is the last thing I want.......... He mouths my shoulders quite often and if Budgie has been sitting there.......... I'm afraid of whatever diseases he might pass to my son........

I'm not a clean freak and I feel that my son does need to be exposed to certain bacteria and viruses from time to time.... as I know this is better for him than him living in a disinfected environment....... I however just don't want to be putting him at unnecessary risk...........

My son is my most precious thing in the world.........

I think you will be fine with your one budgie and no need to get paranoid about the disinfecting. Kids and pets and the odd germ or two builds up resistances. The issues you have been reading about on here is the worst possible scenario and is more about a diseased bird infecting other birds. Less common situations than normal.

If in doubt take your bird to the vet and get him checked and cleared, but really I think you may be worrying for nothing.

Edited April 22, 200916 yr by KAZ

Yes, I totally agree on the building up of resistance :rofl: That's why I'm not too worried about my son putting things into his mouth....

 

I just thought I'd voice my concerns and ask....... :rofl: Never any harm in asking, right? And always better to be informed....

 

Thank you Kaz :rofl:

Sorry if I sounded paranoid....

I'm a first time mum wanting to do everything right Being careful never hurt.....

 

Plus I'd be tremendously upset if I had to rehome Budgie now...... He's such a cutie....

I think you'll be fine.

The number of times I've ingested budgie dust and such, accidentally is probably way too many to remember and I haven't gotten sick so far.

Yes Psittacosis can be transmitted to humans. It is a respiratory illness, however if your budgie is not ill he is very unlikely to pass it on.

Avian coccidial species as far as I know do not infect humans as they are very species specific and even so specific that they can only live in certain areas of the bird's intestine!

 

Common sense like washing hands after playing with the budgie and before you eat is the best and if your budgie is sick get him seen by a vet early on.

Hi Sailorwolf

I have less concerns for myself as being an adult, we have better immune systems compared to a baby, with the fact that we're healthy of course..

 

And I noticed you're in NZ, and since you're currently obtaining your vet degree you must be in PN

 

Am I right to say that this is the only place in NZ that has an avian vet??... As that is what I have heard.... I did try searching for avian vets in my area (Hams) but I haven't been able to find any.....