Strep and birds?

noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
I know that dogs can catch and carry strep...I also know that there are a billion different strains. Here is my issue:

My throat is sore and I do not know if I have some type of strep or not, but my bird was exposed to my germs (in all likelihood) before I even was showing symptoms. I don't let her eat after me, but she has this compulsion to preen my eye lashes...so, that's pretty up-close and personal.

IF this is strep (one of the varieties that typically causes sore throats in humans---NOT MRSA or something crazy), can she catch it?

There seems to be a lot of very conflicting information online, so I am looking for a response from someone who has actually discussed this with their avian vet....I know, "better safe than sorry"...BUT I genuinely want to know if I need to worry about her possible exposure...
 

Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
9,792
San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.

Wingnut

Member
Feb 25, 2016
85
9
South Carolina, USA
Parrots
Kiwi The Lovebird
Depending on the environement it is usually very rare for a bird to catch an owners illness. Unless the bird was eating from your mouth, or somehow ingested your blood or mucous, the likliehood would be nil. Transferring of diseases from human to bird do occur, but they are usually pretty rare.
In reality its more common for a parrot owner to catch Parrot Fever then for the bird to catch a human disease.
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Bottom-line is yes, it's possible for a bird to contract an active strep-infection from a person, but it's also highly unlikely unless the bird was in direct-contact with your saliva/mouth, or they ate food that was previously inside your mouth. So the likelihood of them actually developing an active strep-infection is very low. And it depends on the particular strain of each different Bacteria how it effects a bird, because the strain(s) of Strep that cause a bacterial throat-infection in humans actually cause topical-skin infections in birds, not infections in their mouths/throat/sinuses/upper-respiratory tract like they cause in us (differences in their mucous membranes from ours)...

So the good news is that if by some chance your bird did come in-contact with your saliva and you have one of the strains of strep that causes a throat infection in us, it will only cause an infection in them topically on their skin, and you'll be able to see it. But the odds of that are extremely slim...
 

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