Novices, last month I touched on the use of antibiotics and the care you must take in their use.
I remember someone close to me getting Legionnaire's disease, isolated for a couple of weeks and treated with very strong antibiotics. Three years later and the start of feeling unwell and also lethargic and moving on over a period of time to a complete breakdown of their immune system known as 'yuppie flu' or 'ME'.
When this was first diagnosed the vast majority of the medical profession did not believe people could have these flu-like symptoms over such a long time, and in fact thought some were just making a meal out of the situation, but over time it was treated as a very serious condition and some people ended up in wheelchairs. Again over this period antibiotics were given at various occasions when attending a doctor's appointment and he deemed it necessary. This change was over many years and again this has led to a stomach problem leading to irritable bowel syndrome. Now, doctors at a specialist hospital for this problem believe that when people take antibiotics it can leave some patients with a weakness or side effects. I also know of other people who had problems when taking certain drugs to combat an infection.
Now, where is this leading to concerning our beloved pigeons? We all cannot believe the vast number of diseases our birds are now suffering or the knock-on problem also hitting the flock, or shall we say the secondary infection, all brought on by contact with other pigeons. This can happen in so many ways, from pigeons flying out to the basket we send pigeons to races in and also pigeons purchased from another fancier and from our side of the coin the problem could come from a show. This is why we fanciers should be honest and most are, but if in doubt, leave the pigeons at home. Unfortunately, fingers have been pointed in this area, especially if the fancier concerned only shows pigeons and could not have caught the problem any other way.
I believe that ninety-ninety per cent of fanciers are genuine but one bad apple, or even ignorance, could cause major problems for fanciers. More and more different antibiotics are coming on to the market and unfortunately they are needed to keep abreast with new viruses or bacteria, which again can change and mutate. Every year the problems seem to be getting worse in pigeons and if you talk to fellow fanciers they will all include the likes of paratyphoid, also adenovirus (alias young bird sickness), paramyxovirus and add the name of circovirus. No fancier, racing or show, whose loft houses pigeons can safely state his birds will never suffer from any of the above ailments.
The adenovirus, when it first came on the scene, led to our young birds vomiting their food up and after a few days of vitamins and a light diet all would be a lot better. But now, over the years, the spin-off is that there are many varying strains, of which some are more virulent and deadly than others, also some of which cause fatalities to occur in our flock. The virus in some cases can be linked to a respiratory virus and can be carried by adult pigeons and thus can be passed on to young birds. Over time the virus will move from the respiratory tract down to our birds' digestive system and slowly you will find the birds holding their food and also being sick.
Now you can see a change of movement in viruses over the years hence we are always playing catch up.
