Circovirus expertise needed, please

Hello-

A terribly down and injured pigeon, thought to be an Indian Fantail/Archangel cross and now named Winter, was brought into a San Jose shelter and taken in by MickaCoo. The vet tested and found him to be positive for circovirus. He's made an incredible recovery and is doing much better but I need advice on how to properly place him.

Is circovirus a danger to an adopters' pigeons? Does Winter now need a non-pigeon/dove placement? Is it a common finding?

Any real world advice from you and your experts would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

Elizabeth

Let me do some research today.

I posed your question as stated to Dr. Karl Mark from the Alberta Classics and this is the reply...


Hi Charis,
At the present it is not known if circovirus exists in a carrier-state. If so, then your pigeon that is healthy now may still carry the virus which would infect a loft that has not had the virus. However, it must also be remembered that the majority of the birds in racing pigeon lofts have tested positive for the antibodies against this virus, an indication that these positive birds are or were infected with the virus.
Considering all of the above and the severity of a possible illness, I would refrain from accepting such a bird in my loft. Kind regards,
Karl

I'm waiting from a reply to the same question from Colin Walker.

Hi Charis,

Circo virus is a common disease of pigeons world wide. Many infected pigeons fail to clear the virus and they are a potential source of infection when mixed with other pigeons. Winter should be kept away from other pigeons and be re-tested for Circo virus every 6 months. If he still carrying the virus in 12 months time it is likely that he is a chronic carrier. In the meantime treating any concurrent disease and ensuring that he is on a good diet and well cared for will maximise his chance of clearing the virus.

Regards,
Dr. Colin Walker