Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/7108149/Virus-threatens-NZ-parrots
Virus threatens NZ parrots
PALOMA MIGONE
Last updated 08:23 15/06/2012
A potentially fatal disease that attacks parrots' immune systems is threatening two native species in New Zealand.
The beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) was first discovered in Australia and has since spread throughout the world, largely due to legal and illegal pet trading.
A collaborative study on the virus by the University of Canterbury started after the disease was found in New Zealand's red-fronted parakeets on Little Barrier Island in 2008.
Researchers have since detected the disease in invasive Australian Eastern rosella in Auckland and yellow-crowned parakeets in Fiordland.
The virus' strains in the South and North Islands are different...
Virus threatens NZ parrots
PALOMA MIGONE
Last updated 08:23 15/06/2012
A potentially fatal disease that attacks parrots' immune systems is threatening two native species in New Zealand.
The beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) was first discovered in Australia and has since spread throughout the world, largely due to legal and illegal pet trading.
A collaborative study on the virus by the University of Canterbury started after the disease was found in New Zealand's red-fronted parakeets on Little Barrier Island in 2008.
Researchers have since detected the disease in invasive Australian Eastern rosella in Auckland and yellow-crowned parakeets in Fiordland.
The virus' strains in the South and North Islands are different...