Vaccination for PBFD: Developments and pleasant surprises

Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) (also known as psittacine circoviral disease) is a chronic and ultimately fatal disease in parrots, cockatoos and other psittacine birds (Pass and Perry 1991; Perry et al., 1991; Raidal etal., 2015). The disease is considered a Key Threatening Process (KTP) to at least 16 endangered and vulnerable bird species in Australia. The virus which causes the disease is the dominant pathogen of wild psittacine birds in Australia and PBFD was one of the first threatening disease processes identified under the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 (ESP Act). Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBCAct) a Threat Abatement Plan (TAP) was developed to achieve two broad goals. The first aim was to ensure that PBFD does not escalate the threatened species status of affected birds, and the second, to minimise the likelihood of PBFD becoming a Key Threatening Process (KTP) for other species.