Boronavirus?

Hello All,
has anybody heard or has had any experience with this crazy virus that attacks the digestive system of our beloved parrots? My pineapple green cheek had undigested food in her droppings so I took her to the vet. They tested her droppings and found pathogens that she is now being treated for with antibiotics and anti-yeast medication. However, the situation is not improving. She also has extreme diarrhea. In two weeks the doctor has suggested that she gets tested for a virus called boronavirus which is a dangerous virus that attacks the digestive and sometimes the nerves as well. It cuts their lifespan short. Some of them die very young, some can live with it for longer with the help of digestive enzymes. I just wondered if anyone has ever heard of this or has had any experience with it. I feel really sad for my poor little Daisy who is only a year and three months old and has had so many health issues already. Thank you so much for reading.

That is stressful- I'm sorry you are going through all of this.


Yeah--- It's ABV and can become PDD (ABV is considered serious, as it can be deadly- my uncle's bird had it, and not enough people take it seriously in terms of exposure to other random birds, as some estimates say that a large number (some studies say as many as 40% of captive parrots in the US spread it without symptoms). You should definitely get the test, as it extremely contagious to others and is considered a major deal, although they can survive for many years with ABV, you need to take extreme precaution not to have her around other birds and should assume that any birds that were around her (even if not sharing cages) were infected as well (testing is tricky when symptoms are not showing, as there are lifetime carriers who can spread and shed it intermittently it to other birds and it can progress to PDD, although ABV alone is very serious)..Kind of like HIV and AIDS in terms of the progression but more contagious. Do not assume that your other birds don't have it just because they aren't showing symptoms- some never do but the incubation period is all over the board.


Your bird may be able to live many more years (MANY) if this is treated and if stress is low, nutrition etc = adequate...But again, in another bird, it could kill more quickly, so take extreme care when handling others etc (as the dust on your clothing, hair etc can transmit it)-- it spreads in feather dust, droppings etc and remains stable in the environment for many many months..but in terms of your bird's outcome (in the event that she has this) is very complex...and depends on a billion different factors. They just discovered ABV in the 70s or something

Thank you so much for all this information it is very very helpful and I truly appreciate it!

noodles123 said:

That is stressful- I'm sorry you are going through all of this.


Yeah--- It's ABV and can become PDD (ABV is considered serious, as it can be deadly- my uncle's bird had it, and not enough people take it seriously in terms of exposure to other random birds, as some estimates say that a large number (some studies say as many as 40% of captive parrots in the US spread it without symptoms). You should definitely get the test, as it extremely contagious to others and is considered a major deal, although they can survive for many years with ABV, you need to take extreme precaution not to have her around other birds and should assume that any birds that were around her (even if not sharing cages) were infected as well (testing is tricky when symptoms are not showing, as there are lifetime carriers who can spread and shed it intermittently it to other birds and it can progress to PDD, although ABV alone is very serious)..Kind of like HIV and AIDS in terms of the progression but more contagious. Do not assume that your other birds don't have it just because they aren't showing symptoms- some never do but the incubation period is all over the board.


Your bird may be able to live many more years (MANY) if this is treated and if stress is low, nutrition etc = adequate...But again, in another bird, it could kill more quickly, so take extreme care when handling others etc (as the dust on your clothing, hair etc can transmit it)-- it spreads in feather dust, droppings etc and remains stable in the environment for many many months..but in terms of your bird's outcome (in the event that she has this) is very complex...and depends on a billion different factors. They just discovered ABV in the 70s or something

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I do have a question for you, which is that, I wonder then how safe it is to take our birds to the vet if there are all these birds around that may have this virus and spread it to them. Also, when the doctor goes around and handles the birds, could she be carrying the virus and pass it on to them then? It seems to be so easy to pass it to other birds. Now I'm wondering if she got this (although I shouldn't assume that she has it and I hope that she doesn't because she hasn't been tested yet) from the vet in the first place when she went there last year.

Farnoosh said:

noodles123 said:

That is stressful- I'm sorry you are going through all of this.


Yeah--- It's ABV and can become PDD (ABV is considered serious, as it can be deadly- my uncle's bird had it, and not enough people take it seriously in terms of exposure to other random birds, as some estimates say that a large number (some studies say as many as 40% of captive parrots in the US spread it without symptoms). You should definitely get the test, as it extremely contagious to others and is considered a major deal, although they can survive for many years with ABV, you need to take extreme precaution not to have her around other birds and should assume that any birds that were around her (even if not sharing cages) were infected as well (testing is tricky when symptoms are not showing, as there are lifetime carriers who can spread and shed it intermittently it to other birds and it can progress to PDD, although ABV alone is very serious)..Kind of like HIV and AIDS in terms of the progression but more contagious. Do not assume that your other birds don't have it just because they aren't showing symptoms- some never do but the incubation period is all over the board.


Your bird may be able to live many more years (MANY) if this is treated and if stress is low, nutrition etc = adequate...But again, in another bird, it could kill more quickly, so take extreme care when handling others etc (as the dust on your clothing, hair etc can transmit it)-- it spreads in feather dust, droppings etc and remains stable in the environment for many many months..but in terms of your bird's outcome (in the event that she has this) is very complex...and depends on a billion different factors. They just discovered ABV in the 70s or something

Click to expand...

I do have a question for you, which is that, I wonder then how safe it is to take our birds to the vet if there are all these birds around that may have this virus and spread it to them. Also, when the doctor goes around and handles the birds, could she be carrying the virus and pass it on to them then? It seems to be so easy to pass it to other birds. Now I'm wondering if she got this (although I shouldn't assume that she has it and I hope that she doesn't because she hasn't been tested yet) from the vet in the first place when she went there last year.

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There is always a risk. My vet told me that when I asked the same question (he was like, what is your option? Not get veterinary care? lol). More dangerous scenarios= boarding, bird shops, play-dates or sharing a home. The amount of dander a bird gives off on a short visit is minimal compared to what would be shed over a day or in the place where the bird is housed. Some fancy boarding facilities actually have separate air supplies for each cell because of this issue though. The odds are higher that it came from one of your other birds, the breeder, or something that involved more exposure, but again, not impossible. It also takes a period of time for the virus to build up to detectable levels (incubation etc) so a bird could test negative at a breeder's but also get infected there. Breeders do not test for this most of the time because of the false negatives and expenses involved.



A good vet will thoroughly wash hands/arms and change coats etc between patients if there is a lot of contact. I would not board my bird with the vet though, for the same reason I wouldn't board elsewhere (unless I had no choice-- I once boarded Noodles at a shop because it was the only place that would let her hang out on a tree-stand all day, but I knew even at the time how risky that was). I know that breeder tests all of his birds for polyoma etc but I worry about PDD/ABV and PBFD, as they are much less commonly tested for.


The incubation period on ABV is crazy-- It can take a few weeks to upwards of 10+ years for SOME infected adult birds to show symptoms (in the event that they do) https://lafeber.com/vet/wp-content/uploads/ABV-072814.pdf . It is a tricky virus and they are still not sure they fully understand it, but it is very hard to "kill" and it does linger. It is another one that can also pass mother to egg as well as bird to bird...so it's tricky because your bird could have been born with it, but again, depending on the levels etc, it may not have been detectable even with testing prior to this point. That having been said, babies do tend to have a harder time with it if symptoms occur. There have been instances of babies getting sick and then fighting it to the point where they become carriers, but when symptoms show, it is generally pretty serious--there are also multiple strains, so it's all just a frustrating mess (for vets and owners).


ABV has no treatment other than "supportive care" but sometimes that can buy a number of years in symptomatic birds, depending on the severity, strain , age, origin etc. Asymptomatic birds often live normal-length lives, but again, it's tricky and the main thing is, they can spread it to others and those birds may not test positive for weeks to years depending on the viral load and their immune systems.


It is spread via inhaled or ingested dander, en-utero, via droppings or dust from droppings (inhaled or ingested), contact with food or water containing saliva, dander, regurgitation, fecal matter etc. A lot of that stuff is in the air of your home (even if you can't see it). You might consider a non-ionizing, non-ozone producing , true hepa filter to help reduce it...but it's not really enough (more like an additional precaution, but not enough to remove the risk of housing multiple birds under the same roof if one is infected). I honestly think anyone with birds should have one of these anyway (just for human health and their own respiratory health). I got an Alen Air Breathesmart classic with the fresh plus filter and I love it. It wasn't cheap....but it works very well. Again, you still must assume that your other birds could be carriers (while isolating the actively sick one for now) BUT these purifiers are good to have in general due to all of the junk in the air and due to their need for clean air.

Wow! Thank you so much for all that information again! Well I hope my bird only has bacteria. I wish we knew all this stuff before getting a bird! I only have this one bird and the doctor thinks IF it is that, it's likely that it was transmitted through the mother. Unfortunately she did have to stay at the hospital for five weeks for an injured wing, but that was after the undigested food in the droppings. Thank you again for all that you shared here with me! Much appreciated !

SO MANY PEOPLE wish they knew this stuff, and the problem is, pet stores and many vets who aren't avian don't discuss it in detail unless asked very specific questions.Undigested food in droppings could have been an early indicator but bacteria can also cause this if it is an extreme infection impacting the GI tract. I am glad you are here and please, keep us posted!!! I'm sorry for all of the stress this is causing-- having lived it (ugh). I am also glad your vet is astute enough to realize this is a possibility!

Thank you so much for being so kind and taking the time to help me! You have no idea how heartwarming it is. If you don't mind I want to tell you more about it. I noticed Daisy first showed undigested food in her droppings back in December 2020 and when I took her to the vet sometime later, they broke her wing while doing an x-ray of her lungs. In the meantime she stayed at the hospital for five weeks but when she came back home I noticed the droppings looked rather normal. They treated her partially, but because she was not eating and very depressed and on pain medication as well as other things, the doctor decided to stop the antibiotic. Then about three weeks later, she started having diarrhea again and undigested food appeared in her droppings again. So I took her to the vet two weeks ago, the vet gave her anti-yeast medication, and the results of her grams test showed bacteria staphylococcus coagulase negative. I've only started administrating the antibiotics today as the doctor was going to wait a couple of weeks before administrating it but because the situation was getting worse she decided we should do it now. So then I started panicking that maybe she has the virus, and I thought I should do the test for it ASAP. At the same time, it is highly stressful for her to go to the vet right now so I was thinking I'll wait a couple of days to see if the antibiotics are going to make a difference. So this is the situation for now. She has not lost any weight and she seems to be doing good as far as her energy and mood and everything else. I'm wondering how much time it takes for more serious symptoms to show. I guess there is probably not enough information about the virus as you said, but this whole thing has been (undigested food) going on on and off for about six months. But the fact that she was better after the first treatment of antibiotics when she came back from the vet makes me HOPE that it's not a virus and that the bacteria simply wasn't completely gone and he came back again. Thank you so much for your understanding and I will definitely update you soon. Thank you so much for reading and for being so kind and taking the time. Much appreciated.

I encourage you to read my post. http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/87661-how-live-pdd-specifically-ekkie.html
I have a PDD bird. You need to start looking into PDD just in case. Not all "avian vets" are experienced with PDD. I suggest you look up AGAA testing. My bird was treated early, so luckily he's still alive.

Aw, thank you! Talk all you want- that's what we are here for!


Oh geeze! what a nightmare that the wing broke at the vet etc! How did they manage to do that, I wonder?
I understand why you want to wait a little (given the stress etc) has she had blood drawn before? Some types of bacteria respond better to different types of antibiotics. Did they do any stains or swabs to identify a specific bacteria, by chance?

Thank you SO MUCH!

Thank you again! They did only the grams test and found that bacteria I listed above, but the doctor really wants to see her again I guess she wants to do all kinds of tests. I was going to wait a couple of days to see if this antibiotics makes a difference and then take her in. Her weight hasn't changed but this morning poop had one whole wheat grain in it!

If they run the ABV and/or PDD tests, they probably won't be able to do much more in the way of blood same-day because of the amount. It's good that they did the stain and identified the bacteria, as that will at least allow them to treat it effectively if it is bacteria.


Did you schedule an appointment so that you don't have to wait longer? You could say you plan to cancel if she improves dramatically (even though you def still will want to get follow-up care at some point-- even if the antibiotics help)


I love this forum and I am happy to help in any way I can! It's no burden or anything-- I love birds and I love talking about birds (sometimes TOO MUCH lol). I just hope you guys get to the bottom of this! Hang in there!!!

Thank you so much! I read your post and it was very helpful. Unfortunately my parrot is quite youngIt's all very scary to me – tomorrow I'm going to see the avian doctor again to get tested. Please keep your fingers crossed for me and I will give updates as soon as I get them. So far I have not sensed any sour smells as you have mentioned, and Daisy has maintained her weight throughout this entire time (perhaps over five months already) since I noticed the undigested food in her droppings. I weigh her in the mornings. She is in good spirits, has good appetite – although I'm not sure if she is eating a little more than usual these days and that worries me but perhaps it's a result and a symptom of the bacteria she has been diagnosed with (staphylococcus coagulase negative ) she's only been on antibiotics for a few days although I have not noticed any changes yet. Thank you for all your support it is so very appreciated. I'm sorry you suffered so much with your bird. Your bird is very lucky to have you!

Thank you so much again!!! It really helps ease my anxiety being on this forum right now! I'm actually going tomorrow morning to see the doctor, the doctor actually was concerned and wanted to do the test soonest possible. I'm so lucky I have an amazing avian specialist who really cares about birds a lot (she spends her entire life dedicated to them – her name is Ann McDonald she has won a humane award in Canada for saving so many birds' lives!) She said I have to wait 5 to 8 days for the results. It's been three days since Daisy has been on antibiotics and I THINK I notice a difference… She has not lost any weight and has great energy. It's now been five months since I have noticed the undigested food, so I am still HOPING and praying that it is a good sign and not an indication of a serious disease. Wish me luck for tomorrow and thank you so much, you are amazing!!!

I am so glad that you trust your vet and that you guys will hopefully get to the bottom of this soon! I wasn't on yesterday, but like I said, keep us posted!



I totally get what you said in terms of anxiety etc! We've all been there and this forum always makes me feel better just because it's nice to hear from other "bird people" lol


Wishing you luck!

Thank you!

Farnoosh said:

Thank you!

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any updates? Hope all is well!

noodles123 said:

Farnoosh said:

Thank you!

Click to expand...

any updates? Hope all is well!

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awww hello thank you so much for checking in on me, I actually didn't see this message until now! I came here to actually update you today so a few days ago we got the results for the ABV testing, and it was negative!! I'm very very happy . However, I am aware of false-negative tests. Today Daisy is at the doctor again, she will stay there overnight because the doctor wanted to examine her droppings throughout the day. I feel really bad for my poor Daisy because she absolutely HATES going over there and it was so hard to get her to go in her cage because she's so smart and she knew what's going on . And I couldn't even sleep all night worrying about her going there today to stay overnight, but I know it's all for good reason and that we need to get to the bottom of this. 10 days into the antibiotics, I did notice a moderate change in her droppings, but they are still not normal. I will update again soon! Thank you for your kindness, much love!

Aw good! Glad it was at least negative! I hope they get to the bottom of this soon--I hate leaving Noodles anywhere- totally get it! At least you know that, in terms of medical emergencies, they will be on top of it though