Beak and feather disease

Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) is also known as psittacine circovirus (PCV) or Psittacine Circoviral Disease (PCD). It's an infectious disease that affects parrots, including lovebirds, lory, and cockatoo families.

Birds affected by PBFD look like they've lost lots of feathers around the head, which sometimes extends to the body. Their beak may also look deformed and overgrown. The disease also attacks the cells lining their organs.

In very young birds, PBFD can cause quick death from blood poisoning, gut inflammation, or lung infections. Infected older birds might show signs of sadness, diarrhoea, and strange feathers. The disease can take a long time to kill them, making it hard for older birds to eat properly. It may take 6 to 24 months for the disease to cause death in the infected bird.

To find out if a bird has the disease, vets need a few feathers and a bit of blood to check for the virus. The virus can spread in feather dust, faeces, and crop tissue. This means infected adults may transfer the disease to their young during feeding.

It's a widespread disease in the wild. The chances of survival in the wild are low, and depend on the severity of the virus. Factors such as age may also impact their chances of survival.

Some infected birds in the wild may survive if they're nursed. They will still spread the disease if they're released back into the wild. Even if cured, the virus persists in the liver, and the bird will still excrete the virus. This poses a threat to other birds it may come in contact with.

Most established populations of birds can withstand the disease. Threatened species are at greater risk of extinction.