Animal Trackers

Viruses dog birds--and dogs

All things considered, these are not the best of times to be a chicken. First the searing heat over much of the nation this summer killed nearly 10 million birds, or about 1% of the 1.25 billion commercial chickens alive and scratching in the U.S. at any one time. Drought drove up grain prices, making the fowl more expensive to feed and buy. Now comes still another peril: so-called exotic Newcastle disease, a viral disorder that attacks chickens as well as a wide variety of other birds.

The symptoms: gasping and coughing, often followed by nervous disorders. Upon taking a drink of water, affected birds walk backward. Their wings droop, their legs drag, and they may become totally paralyzed within a few days. Poultrymen have developed vaccines against the more common forms of Newcastle, which was first recognized at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in 1926. Since then a more virulent strain has emerged. It was carried, Government officials suspect, by the rare tropical birds that are smuggled into the U.S., often by illicit drug dealers, and sold to eager buyers at fancy prices: up to $1,300 for a Moluccan cockatoo, or $8,000 for a hyacinthine macaw.

When an epidemic of exotic Newcastle disease struck California in the early '70s, 12 million egg-laying hens died, or were destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease. This time rare birds are being killed by the thousands in an attempt to protect the $9 billion poultry industry. Agriculture Department task forces have destroyed some 30,000 pet birds, from Maine to Hawaii, mostly by gassing them in plastic bags with carbon dioxide.

The strategy is not appreciated by anyone who has spent a small fortune for a rare bird, even though the Government reimburses owners and dealers at fair market values. But Agriculture and poultry-industry officials see no alternative. This year's attack seemed more threatening than any earlier outbreak: exposed birds were tracked from Miami to 45 states, Canada, the Bahamas and The Netherlands Antilles.

So far, the program has worked: the virus apparently has not spread to the great chicken factories of the Southeast and of the Delmarva Peninsula, which ships birds overnight by truck to New York City and other Eastern markets. But poultrymen are not resting easy. Says Frank Perdue, chairman of Perdue Farms Inc.: "All you can do is what you can." One step: voluntary quarantines for farmers whose families have visited pet shops.

Meanwhile another disease, canine parvovirus, an unusually contagious and sometimes fatal ailment affecting dogs, has become a major concern of veterinarians and pet owners. While no overall figures are available, more than 2,000 deaths have been tabulated in Britain; and in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area alone, an estimated 1,500 dogs have died from the disease in the past three months.

Possibly a mutant strain of a mink virus or the cat virus feline panleukopenia, parvovirus is spread through the feces of infected canines. The virus can remain infectious for months, and can be tracked long distances on the soles of shoes or by other means. The disease does not affect humans, but sniffing dogs can pick up the virus by ingesting less than one-thousandth of a gram of fecal material. Five to ten days after exposure, the dogs may become listless, then vomit and develop bloody diarrhea; they also lose their appetite. If the animal becomes dehydrated, it may die unless treated.

Veterinarians at Cornell University's Baker Institute for Animal Health are working on a parvovirus vaccine that will offer long-lasting protection, but it is still experimental. For now, many dog owners are making do with vaccines using feline panleukopenia virus. The vaccinations offer effective protection against the dog virus, but they must be renewed at least every six months or so, possibly more often.

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