[birdyland]

They find them every year the past few years in east county close to where I live. Consequently, both birds are vaccinated for WNV by Dr. Jenkins. Tiki was vaccinated last year and is due for her Booster in Nov, and Niki just completed her first shot and booster a few weeks ago. Now, I know some of you will come back with "there's no approved avian WNV vaccine"... I know, but here's what our Doc has to say about it:

Dana
The vaccine we are currently using for WNV is approved for use in horses and has been researched by Dr. Pat Reddig at the Raptor center at the U of MN Veterinary School. It has been used by many zoos (including our zoo and WAP) and has proven to be efficacious in outbreaks.
Pat Reddig's people have been working on a bird approved vaccine. Maybe we will hear more at the up coming AAV meeting mid August.
Cheers,
Dr. J

Mine spend so much time outside, and even though my pond is stocked with hundreds of mosquito fish, I still worry.... they are just finding these dead birds too close to my home. The vaccine is $50 then a booster a month later at $50. Yep, that's right. I've spent $200 in the past year, and will spend $100 every year to boost two birds. After reading the studies involving crows, and the avian vets telling me about successes in emu flocks and at the World Famous San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Parks, I decided better safe than sorry.