Date: March 18, 2019
Source: University of Georgia
Bromethalin,
a common rat poison, is the agent responsible for a neurological disease that
has sickened or killed birds from a popular flock of naturalized parrots that
reside primarily in the Telegraph Hill area in north San Francisco, according
to a new study led by the University of Georgia Infectious Diseases Laboratory
and funded by Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue.
The
study, published today in PLOS ONE, caps a multi-year effort to determine
the cause of the disease, which has been observed in parrots from this flock
since at least 1999.
"The
investigation, inspired and funded by Mickaboo, required a team of
veterinarians, pathologists and researchers. It is only because the poisoned
birds were feral parrots that the condition was so thoroughly
investigated," said first author Fern Van Sant, whose clinic, For the
Birds, in San Jose, California, provided care for many of the affected parrots.
"The findings offer us an opportunity to assess the true risk of this
rodenticide to pets and feral animals and to clarify the risk of potential soil
and water contamination."
