Cochkatoo Bites

Hello,Recebtly we had gotten a Cockatoo,from a person online,she said she had him 3yrs.We brought it home and we had it about 1 wek,during this time it bit my wife 4 times and me 1 time,afterwards both of us didnt fel well at all,after the 4th time it bit my wife it wa walking aaround for about 1 hour and then fell over it couldnt stand up,then it started getting sick to it's stomach and about 2 hrs.later it died,is it possible it could have had a disease that it could have passed onto us.It sems funny the way it fell over then got sick and then died.shortly afterwards.

[AHP84]

First of all, you and your wife should see a doctor immediately if both of you felt sick after getting bitten.
I read your post and the first think that came to mind was Psittacosis, or parrot fever. It is transferable to humans. This is from Wikipedia: "Infected birds shed the bacteria through feces and nasal discharges, which can remain infectious for several months. Many strains remain quiescent in birds until activated under stress. Birds are excellent, highly mobile vectors for the distribution of chlamydial infection because they feed on, and have access to, the detritus of infected animals of all sorts."
If your cockatoo had it, the stress of going to a new home with new people probably brought on the illness and death.
Here is the rest of the article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psitticosis

[ireneo]

And if this happened recently, last 24-48 hours and you still have the bird, take it to the vet for a necropsy and some testing. Don't freeze the bird but keep it wrapped and cool. I was bitten by a cockatoo once, still have the scar on my thumb. Sorry you had such a bad experience.