Avian Health Network Newsletter Volume III Issue II
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In this issue:
--- Happenings at AHN
--- Thank You Letter from Kathleen Reid Bangle at UGA Foundation
--- Free Flight - Getting Started
--- Website of the Month - Tinkerbell and Shanlung
--- Avian Health in the News: Avian Flu
--- Recipe - Sweet Potato Balls
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Happenings at AHN
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AFTER THE DIAGNOSIS-LIVING WITH PDD
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Susan Clubb, DVM, Diplomate ABVP, of the Rainforest Clinic for Birds in
Loxahatchee, Florida, is writing an article called "After the Diagnosis -
Living with PDD" at AHN's Online Conference this month. This is a golden
op****tunity to hear what an experienced avian vet has to say about caring
for PDD positive and PDD suspect flock members. Tickets are on sale now
for the annual conference. Proceeds will benefit the EDRG team's
research
efforts at the University of Georgia. Refer to the StopPDD Campaign
website - http://www.stoppdd.org/makeitwork/stopnshop.htm
for more
information about conference presentations or to purchase tickets. The
Online Conference begins November 20th and ticket sales end on November
17th, 2004 so don't delay!
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HELP AHN TRIM A TREE TO STOP PDD
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Come celebrate the holidays with AHN, Island style! Our 2004 StopPDD
Virtual
Tree basks in the warm sun on a remote tropical island and is waiting to
be
decorated by you.
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Join in the fun and buy a virtual ball today! Get one for each of your
pets,
or give a virtual gift to that special birdie buddy on your shopping list.
Go to http://www.stoppdd.org/tree.html
to find out more.
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DR. RITCHIE TO ATTEND `BIRDS OF A FEATHER' QUILT DRAWING
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Drum Roll Please ~ The Drawing for the Birds of a Feather Quilt will be
held
on 24 April 2005 at a meeting of The Bird Heard, a club in Columbia, MD
dedicated to education for the welfare of exotic birds. Branson W.
Ritchie,
DVM, PhD, Diplomate ABVP and ECAMS, will speak on PDD and draw the ticket
of
the lucky winner. Keep an eye on http://www.StopPDD.org
for details!
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Several bird clubs have requested blocks of quilt drawing tickets to
resell
at their meetings. Please email QuiltingBird@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
for details if
your club is interested.
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ATTENTION E-BAYERS!
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Tired of searching for bird stuff on eBay? Buy your bird stuff from bird
people while helping the StopPDD campaign! The AVIAN HEALTH NETWORK
AUCTION
SITE is now open at http://www.avianhealthnetwork.com.
Please sup****t the
vendors who are helping to sup****t StopPDD.
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The online auction by bird people for bird people charges no listing fees
-
a seller pays a small closing fee only if an item sells. Register for
FREE
and get a $5 credit to use towards vendor closing fees.
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BIRDS OF A FEATHER QUILT MAKES ITS DEBUT
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The AHN Birds of a Feather quilt made its debut at the 3rd Annual Eastern
Berks Pet Bird Mart near Reading, PA, on November 6th, 2004.
Event sponsor Lisa Minnich donated two tables for AHN use, and joined a
dozen other vendors in providing prizes (gift certificates, toys, play
gym,
art, embroidered t-****rt, carrier cage, supplies) for a drawing to benefit
the PDD research efforts of the Emerging Diseases Research Group at the
University of Georgia.
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The beautiful quilt, lovingly stitched by "Quilting Birds" around the
country, drew a lot of attention from a very friendly and sup****tive
public.
Many visitors signed up for tickets for the Quilt drawing next April, for
this month's Online Conference, and to find out more about the December
Trim
a Tree program. Thank you, everyone, for all you have done to launch the
first annual Birds of a Feather Quilt!
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AHN Network Members Receive Special Thanks from UGA Foundation!
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Avian Health Network received a letter this month from Kathy Bangle,
Director of Development, UGA, College of Veterinary Medicine. We wanted
to
share the letter with all those who have participated in the StopPDD
Campaign and sup****ted Dr. Ritchie's work at the UGA.
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Avian Health Network
October 27, 2004
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Dear Network Members:
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WOW! I continue to be impressed with your enthusiasm and sup****t of Dr.
Bran Ritchie's program here at the University of Georgia College of
Veterinary Medicine. While I am not a veterinarian, nor can I talk with
you
about the details of your birds or Dr. Ritchie's research, I can tell you
that your group is one of the most dedicated I have ever encountered. In
the world of development officers, your group ranks at the top!
..
Thank you for.
.. Your consistent giving
.. Your generous gifts
.. Your regular correspondence and updates
.. Your encouragement of others to give
.. Your knowledge that research advances the health of your birds
..
I am grateful for your commitment and for the op****tunity to work with you
to further this research. he Avian Health Network is a model
organization,
and I am lucky that you chose to sup****t Dr. Ritchie. Thank you again for
your devotion. Please come to Athens to visit if you are in the area.
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Sincerely,
..
Kathleen Reid Bangle
Director of Development
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Cc: Dr. Bran Ritchie
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(This letter is posted on the Avian Health Network Website at
http://www.avianhealthnetwork.info/pdf/04KRBThanks.pdf
)
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Free Flight - Getting Started
By Nate Waddoups of Feather Forum
http://www.featherforum.com
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"Recall is im****tant for many reasons. First and foremost, it represents
your most likely means of recovering an escaped bird. For this reason
alone, I highly recommend training any bird to come when called. If they
ever do get out, they will at least know what is expected of them when you
ask them to come back. That might sound silly, but it's absolutely true -
if
you haven't trained your bird to come when called, your bird will not know
what it means. Second, it is often very helpful to be able to call your
parrot to you as you go about your daily business in your home. Third,
training recall gives you an op****tunity to build a stronger relation****p
with your bird, which helps in all aspects of bird keeping."
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So writes Nate Waddoup in his latest article on free flight. If you'd
like
to read the article in its entirety, click here:
http://www.avianhealthnetwork.info/articles/freeflight2.htm
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Website of the Month - Tinkerbell and Shanlung
By Debra Standiford
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This month's website belongs to a man named Shanlung.
http://www.geocities.com/shanlung9/
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Those of us lucky enough to be on message boards where Shanlung has posted
have watched a touching story unfold between a man and his free-flighted
African Grey, Tinkerbell. Tink, as she is often referred to, free flies
in
an unusual manner - her harness is hooked to fi****ng line.
..
Shanlung and his wife, Joy, are avid photographers and this site has a
large
collection of pictures that were taken all over Taiwan during their
excursions with Tink. The scenery is breathtaking and the pictures of
Tink in actual flight are mesmerizing. By the way, Tink made most of
these
outings while riding on the handlebars of a motorcycle.
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But the real treasure of this website is the 2 ½ year relation****p between
Shanlung and Tinkerbell. Shanlung describes his relation****p with Tink in
this way, "A time when a little grey meet a crazy guy and lived and loved
in
Taiwan until fate broke them apart".
..
In October 2004, Shanlung had to leave Taiwan and Tinkerbell wasn't able
to
go with him. All those who came to know them hope again to see the day
when
Shanlung is reunited with his "surrogate daughter - Tinkerbell".
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Avian Health in the News: Avian Flu
By Nancy Bowen
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The Avian Flu was first identified in Italy 100 years ago. During the
1918-1919 influenza pandemic 40-50 million people died worldwide. But at
that time only one strain was identified. Today there are two strains of
this flu, H5 & H7 with 15 subtypes. The H5 strain rapidly mutates and
gathers genes from viruses infecting other animals. During the 1983-1984
epidemics in the U.S. the virus initially caused a low mortality rate, but
within six months the toll had risen to 90%. 17 million birds had to be
destroyed at a cost of $65 million dollars.
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Despite their strong natural immunity to it, migrating waterfowl,
especially
wild ducks, are natural carriers of avian influenza. Live bird markets in
Asia have helped spread this deadly disease. In the past, it was believed
that avian influenza seldom affected humans and normally did not jump
species. But in 1997 in Hong Kong, and in 2003 in the Netherlands, two
cases of avian influenza infecting humans were do***ented. Rapid
destruction (three days) of Hong Kong's entire poultry population of 1.5
million birds possibly averted a pandemic. This is the first time known
that
the virus jumped from birds to humans. In 2003 the virus was identified in
Korea and has now spread to other Asian countries, but not to Europe.
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Based on past history, pandemics can be expected on the average of three
to
four times each century. The World Health Organization is working with
scientists all over the world to identify countries most at risk, trying
to
find the ways to have significant amounts of antiviral vaccines on hand.
Each new strain of influenza, by the time it has mutated, requires a
different vaccine with each taking at least four months to develop.
Currently, quarantining suspected farms and the culling of all suspect
birds
is having a definite impact on avian influenza. Scientists and disease
specialists worldwide are working around the clock hopefully to find the
solution to this problem, before we are once again faced with a deadly
pandemic such as the 1918 outbreak. They are well aware that without
success
in their quest, it is a matter of when - not if - humanity will be facing
another deadly pandemic.
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For more information, follow this link: http://www.avianhealthnetwork.info
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SWEET POTATO BALLS -
(excerpt from "Bink E Berde's Culinary Antics" by Jayne Meyers - used with
permission)
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Ingredients
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Other than the obligatory yam or sweet potato, get creative and use one,
two, five or more of these tasty little additions: minced pineapple,
sunflower kernels, raisins, papaya, chopped nuts, minced apricot, apple
juice or apple sauce, cranberries, cheerios, pine nuts, walnuts,
hazelnuts,
fresh cherries, coconut shreds, cayenne pepper flakes, chopped/grated
ginger
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The Assemble & Cook It Part:
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1. Organize the tools you will need (bowls, etc) and make sure you
thoroughly wash your ingredients
with GSE, baking soda & water, etc.
2. Bake the potato (microwave until soft).
3. Remove skin from tater and mash.
4. Gradually add additional ingredients - you won't need or want to use
them all simultaneously, so
combine just a few items. (One of the favorites here is a small
handful of pine nuts, a pretty big
spoonful of diced papaya or applesauce, big pinch of sunflower
kernels.) While stirring gently, check
consistency - batter should be damp and a bit sticky, NEVER runny.
5. Next step - seasoning. After all, a sweet potato treat for a bird
should be a bit spicy!! Start with a ¼
tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg; then chop up some ginger and toss it
into the mix. The "dough"
should be a bit tacky to the touch and easy to roll into 1" to 1-1/2"
balls. If too sticky, add a drop or 2
or 3 of unsweetened apple juice.
6. Form the mixture into little balls and set them aside.
7. Pour about 3" to 4" of coconut shreds and a handful or two of chopped
nuts (I use a variety.) into a
large Ziplock bag and shake gently, covering the entire sweet potato
nugget.
8. After allowing coated potato balls to set for about 20-30 minutes,
remove from coconut/nut covering
and place in serving dish or Ziploc bags. May be frozen for later
and
reheated in microwave.
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Rate the Avian Health Network Newsletter!
Go to http://www.avianhealthnetwork.info/newsletter.htm
and scroll down to
the bottom of the page to take the quick survey.
..
Looking for a way to help? Volunteering just one or two hours a month to
help the StopPDD campaign can be very rewarding. We need people who can
help with website design, ideas for articles, help write the newsletter,
and/or help post the newsletter. All of this is done right from your
computer. If you are interested in volunteering a little time to help,
please contact newsletter@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
the Newsletter Delivered to your inbox! Missing our Newsletters,
Updates and Events? Join StopPDD News today to make sure you are kept in
the loop! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stoppddnews/
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This newsletter is dedicated to Suzy, lost to PDD. Read her story and
others at http://www.stoppdd.org/problem/pdd_quilt/ppd_frame.htm
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Fine Print ~ The information contained herein is for educational purposes
only, and is not meant to substitute for quality avian veterinary care.
AHN
cannot guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained
herein, nor the information distributed by other groups or resources
referenced in this do***ent. Those with a bird(s) exhibiting any symptom
of
illness should seek the advice of a qualified avian medical professional
immediately.
..
The opinions and/or content of the published do***ents are the sole
opinions
of their author and are not the opinions of Avian Health Network, Inc.,
their board, volunteers, or other participants. Avian Health Network,
Inc.
further does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information,
text, or other items contained within these materials.
..
Newsletter articles may be reprinted on the WWW in their entirety,
including
title and byline, as long as a link to http://www.AvianHealthNetwork.info
is
provided with the statement: "First published in Avian Health Network,
Inc.,
Newsletter Volume x Issue y."
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Avian Health Network, Inc. is a 501(C) 3 headquartered and incor****ated in
the Commonwealth of Virginia. We are an organization of volunteers with
no
paid personnel. We are committed to raising public awareness and funds
for
avian diseases such as PDD. Financial Statement is available upon written
request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs, Commonwealth of
Virginia.
Proceeds generated by the StopPDD campaign will go to help subsidize the
research of the Emerging Diseases Research Group (EDRG) at the University
of
Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change
the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead
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