Health Question

[strike]

Hello,
I have a cage of like 5 male and 8 female orange Bobwhite quail.
They have all been fine except 1 female over the winter. She seemed thin. She couldn't walk. When you picked her up she would shake without control of her body. I put her under a heat lamp and wormed her. I kept her there for a few months then brought her back she seemed fine, but would still shake weirdly. She died about 2 weeks ago. Now The Rest of them seem to want to snuggle with eachother. If i go in the cage they will get up and go to the other side. I picked one up and it did that weird shaking thing again. They quit eating most of their food now, and I am afraid they all might die.

Does anyone know what this is and how to treat it?
thanks

 

[monarc23]

Does this sound anything like it (was looking at my favorite website for something that had tremors in it):::

"Equine Encephalitis
Synonyms: EE, EEE, WEE

Note: This disease should not be confused with St. Louis Encephalits (SLE). Chickens are used as sentinels (test animals) in SLE suspect areas, such as southern Florida. While SLE is also carried by mosquitos, that is where the similarities between the two encephalitis diseases end. Chickens do not get SLE. Refer to Factsheet VM71 (St. Louis Encephalitis - The Role of Chickens) for more information on SLE.

Species affected: Equine encephalitis is a contagious disease of birds (especially pheasants), mammals (especially horses), and people. Birds are the major source of the virus.

Clinical signs: Two forms affect birds: eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) and western equine encephalitis (WEE). The clinical signs are identical and include reduced feed consumption, staggering, and paralysis. Surviving birds may be blind, have muscle paralysis, and have difficulty holding their head up. Damage to the bird's nervous system varies with species. In pheasants, there is pronounced leg paralysis, twisting of the neck, and tremors. Mortality is high. Chukar partridges and turkeys show drowsiness, paralysis, weakness, and death (see Table 2 ).

Transmission: Infected mosquitoes are the primary source of the virus. The Culiseta melanuria mosquito is the primary transmitter of the virus to poultry. Other mosquito species transmit the disease too, but feed mostly on other animals. Cannibalism of sick or dead birds by penmates is a major source of transmission within pens.

Treatment: none

Prevention: Remove the source of infection by establishing mosquito control: keep weeds mowed in a 50-foot strip around bird pens. This removes cover and resting areas for mosquitos. Eliminate mosquito breeding areas. Fog areas with malathion.

It is possible to immunize birds, especially pheasants, with the vaccine prepared for horses. The recommended dose is one-tenth of a horse dose per bird. "


got this from::: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PS044

 

[farrier!]

Good suggestion about the EEE and WEE but we have not had an outbreak of it in the states for a few years. Nasty disease that decimated the Mexican equine population years back and made it;s way into Florida and Texas but no further north.

Along the same lines is West Nile. A lot of the same symptoms and it is in the Midwest.

Terrible thought.....

I think you may be able to talk to the state and they will test at least one of the birds. Sure hope that that is not it.....

 

[monarc23]

farrier! :

Good suggestion about the EEE and WEE but we have not had an outbreak of it in the states for a few years. Nasty disease that decimated the Mexican equine population years back and made it;s way into Florida and Texas but no further north.

Along the same lines is West Nile. A lot of the same symptoms and it is in the Midwest.

Terrible thought.....

I think you may be able to talk to the state and they will test at least one of the birds. Sure hope that that is not it.....

Wow i didn't know any of that! I hope you're not saying it was a terrible thought of me to suggest don't kill the messenger

I was just reading a long trying ot help

 

[farrier!]

Oh no...LOL...
It is terrible if that is what it is but a very good catch on the symptoms.
Horses and people die from West Nile too.

I have lost horses to it and so have clients of mine. For some reason it never clicked that our birds could also get it.......

Devastating neurological disease...horses often go down and cannot get up and slowly waste away.....

My memory is going blank but it may be Blue Jays that the numbers are at records lows because of West Nile. It has disseminated some wild bird populations. Last year they were placing ads telling people where to send dead wild birds to to get tested. I am sure some agency will still be doing testing.