Dr. David Phalen and his team at Texas A & M University have been making breakthrough discoveries on many avian diseases. Their research has now completely turned everything previously "known" about "megabacteria" on its ear. Dr. Phalen gave an incredibly interesting talk on "megabacteria" at the AFA convention in Houston on August 10, 2001 and his findings will certainly rock the world of avian medicine. This presentation contains the most current, up-to-date information available on this organism. Texas A & M University is the only avian research facility in the United States working with "megabacteria". The International Parrotlet Society has recently raised more than $3,100 for Dr. Phalen's work with this organism.

For years, that has been a lot of misinformation discussed and published about "megabacteria". Until very recently, no one knew what it really was except that it was an organism.  It has been around for a very long time and is prevalent in many wild populations of birds.

First, thanks to Dr. Phalen's team's discovery, we now know, it is NOT a bacteria. It has now been positively identified as a yeast and is NO LONGER named "megabacteria". Its new name is Avian Gastric Yeast (or AGY) for short. Dr. Phalen will be giving a presentation on their discoveries at the next Associatin of Avian Veterinarians conference in September. His findings will be published in their proceedings as well as the Journal for Avian Medicine in late fall. He will then make them available to the International Parrotlet Society for publication in our journal. Dr. Phalen was very kind to give some credit to IPS and its members for supporting this research.

The research at Texas A & M has proved that like Candida, all birds probably have AGY in their systems. He does not believe it is a primary pathogen and again, like Candida, is only a problem in otherwise compromised birds. It is not easily transmittable such as being airborne or through fecal dust but through direct contact. He does NOT recommend flock treatment nor does he recommend treatment unless the bird is showing clinical signs of illness.

They have also discovered that even Amphotericin B is not an adequate drug and other drugs have shown greater promise over the long term. Again, these findings will be discussed in much greater detail by Dr. Phalen in his upcoming reports.

Tthis is a great breakthrough for avian medicine and an even better breakthrough for parrotlets. Everyone who contributed to the International Parrotlet Society fundraiser should be very proud of yourselves. Thanks to your direct contributions, we now have the answers that can help us manage our parrotlets in a much more healthful and safe environment.

Send your tax deductible contributions to:

Texas A & M University
c/o Dr. David Phalen,
College of Veterinary Medicine,  
Large Animal Medicine & Surgery,
College Station, Texas, 77843-4475.

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