COVID-19
Coronavirus: Is my pet at risk? Much of the news has been dominated by one story for the last couple of weeks: COVID-19. We have started receiving calls to our veterinary clinic from worried pet owners, including an ER nurse worried about whether or not she could transmit the virus to her cockatoo. This article […]
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Information
What is Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease? Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) is a highly contagious and highly lethal viral disease of rabbits. The first reported outbreak of this disease was in China in 1984 within a group of commercially-bred Angora rabbits imported from Germany. In less than a year, RHD killed millions of domestic rabbits in China […]
Avian Influenza
Avian flu is something that all bird owners should be aware of given the seriousness of the disease. There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C and D. Human influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal epidemics of disease in people (i.e., flu season) almost every winter in Canada. Influenza A viruses are […]
Salmonella Information
Salmonella is a bacterium with over 200 serotypes isolated from reptiles alone. It is a bacterium that has the potential of causing mild to serious disease in any species, but is considered more likely in all pet species of reptiles, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, and prairie dogs. Salmonella is a zoonoses; that is, a disease that […]
West Nile Virus
West Nile Virus (WNV) is a disease that: is endemic to Africa but has spread worldwide is caused by a virus from the family Flaviviridae is spread by mosquitoes feeding on ‘blood’ meals affects humans, horses, birds, and other mammals has begun to affect animals in Alberta Birds are the principle hosts of the disease […]
Psittacosis Information
Psittacosis Derived from the Greek word ‘psittakos’, meaning parrot, psittacosis is a disease of hooked bill, or psittacine birds. Also called ornithosis, chlamydiosis (different from human venereal disease), or parrot fever, psittacosis is caused by an organism called Chlamydophila psittaci, a highly infectious, obligate intracellular bacteria. This organism can induce disease in most species of […]