1200 Diseased Pheasants Euthanized by Wyoming Game & Fish

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) says Downar Bird Farm near Torrington has experienced outbreaks of two diseases. Department personnel have euthanized approximately 1200 pheasants at the bird farm this week to help contain the diseases and prevent future outbreaks.

According to a release, WGFD personnel discovered cecal worms in some birds last week. Then this week personnel at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory confirmed the presence of Chlamydiophila psittaci in some birds, which is the causative agent of the zoonotic disease Psittacosis. Psittacosis can affect humans with an acute respiratory illness, often with fever and other flu-like symptoms.

Because of the potential health threat to humans and domestic poultry, the WGFD is working with the Wyoming Department of Health and the Wyoming Livestock Board to ensure all necessary precautions are in place. The WGFD says employees at the bird farm are taking biosecurity precautions to protect themselves and pheasant chicks. None of the employees at the Bird Farm have exhibited any signs of illness, which is readily treated with antibiotics according to Dr. Tracy Murphy with the Wyoming Department of Health.

Assistant Veterinatian for the WGFD, Dr. Cynthia Tate, says there is still a lot that unknown about the disease and how it was introduced into the bird farm, adding that additional necropsies and sampling are being done to try and understand how to prevent future outbreaks.

WGFD Wildlife Chief Brian Nesvik says it's unclear whether this fall's pheasant releases will be impacted.

The birds that were euthanized this week were brood stock that were scheduled to be released this spring. These birds had already produced the eggs that will hatch birds for this fall's releases. However we have increasing concerns with higher than normal newly hatched chick mortality.
-WGFD Wildlife Chief Nesvik

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fewer than 50 human cases of psittacosis are reported in the Unites States each year. In Wyoming there have been no human cases reported since 2000. There was one case each year for 1999 and 1998, three cases in 1996, and seven in 1989.