Local Detroit Man's Parrot tests positive for COVID-19

Man Says Parrot Showed Strange Sypmtoms

On September 18th, Detroit man Robert Shmurdus noticed that his African Gray parrot was acting very strangely.

"I heard him coughing, something very strange for a parrot to do. He was sneezing a lot and was fluffed up at the bottom of the cage."
The parrot's name is BigMac, being a 40 year-old, BigMac is one elderly bird. With such age, a bird's immune system will weaken, leaving them prone to sickness. But, this bird caught a sickness everyone has been trying to avoid, COVID-19. Shmurdus found this out when he took BigMac to the veterinarian. Shmurdus' veterinarian said that BigMac was horribly sick and that he needed to run more tests on him. After a couple days, the veterinarian announced that the bird somehow contracted coronavirus. The two decided to keep BigMac in the animal hospital quarantined from other animals as they treat him. As for Shmurdus, he would return home without his avian friend.

The CDC reports that animals who have contracted the disease have little to no chance of passsing the disease on to humans.

"At this time, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the virus that causes COVID-19.
Based on the limited information available to date, the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low."
Therefore, Shmurdus will not be forced to stay in his home. I worry about my bird but I am glad that I'm still safe he states. This is not the first time that a household pet has been diagnosed with COVID-19, there have been several dogs and cats around the world that tested positive. We will keep you covered on how BigMac is doing.

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