macaws

Proventricular Dilatation Disease, or PDD, is a disorder of the central nervous system and a fatal viral disease that currently affects 50 different species of domesticated and wild psittacine parrots as well as 5 other Orders of birds. PDD was previously known as “macaw wasting syndrome” when it was mistakenly thought to infect only macaws. The Spix’s macaw, whose current population is estimated at 100 live birds, is currently one of the most endangered species of birds in the world, with its very existence being threatened by PDD.