>Recently, I've read the discussions regarding protection of babies from
>disease.  I believe lab coats and showers before handling is a
>bit extreme.  Can you imagine the bacteria and viruses that are rampent
>in nature?!
Bacteria are curable, and researchers are finding that many babies fight
off neonatal bacterial infections just fine without drugs. But there
aren't the problems with viruses in the wild because of the lack of
crowding in nesting areas. In captivity, we have "nurseries" where all
the babies are jammed together. Viruses are SO contagious, it hardly
takes anything to spread them around.
>As nursing provides a human baby with natural immunity, the mother bird
>passes similar goodies to her babies.
Those immunities only last 2-3 weeks at most though. After that point,
there is a "window" of 2-6 weeks (depending on species) before the
baby's own immune system kicks in and begins manufacturing antibodies on
its own.
>My Blue-fronted Amazon has tested positive for Giardia.  The
>Giardia may recur, so I take it one day at a time.  Recently, Milwaukee
>water was found to carry this organism. Obviously, Rita picked up the
>disease in this manner.
A) Giardia is not a life threatening disease. It is often the cause of
OTHER problems, but by itself it only causes intestinal distress, and
sometimes skin itching (which may cause plucking). It's a protozoa, a
parasite; not an actual bacteria or virus.
B) She could have also gotten it from any other infected bird at the
aviary where she was raised; it can easily be carried in feces, and is
hard to disinfect off cage surfaces. If she was kept in a cage that
previously housed an infected bird, that could also have passed the
giardia to her.
>Would her immunity have been stronger if she hadn't been hand-fed from
>day one?
There IS no immunity to giardia--it's a parasite, just like a flea is
(except that giardia is INTERNAL, fleas are EXTERNAL). No animal or bird
can develop an immunity to parasites. Being handfed or not would have no
difference in this particular illness.
--Kathy
 * SLMR 2.1a * 
--- Silver Xpress Mail System       
---------------