Psittacosis

Psittacosis

Causes:

Psittacosis refers to any infection or disease cause by Chlamydia psittaci, which is a bacterium from the Chlamydia genus. This disease can be transmitted from infected birds (usually domesticated birds) to humans by breathing in Chlamydia psittaci through aerosolized urine, respiratory secretion, or dried feces of infected birds. A bite from an infected bird or handling the plumage and tissues of infected birds can also cause psittacosis. A person-to-person transmission of psittacosis is very rare. The disease may be spread when a person is exposed to aerosolized droplets of Chlamydia psittaci due to sudden, forceful coughing of an infected individual. However the disease is quite rare and only about 100 to 200 cases are reported in the United States each year.

Symptoms:

The symptoms of psittacosis in humans resemble those of a severe ‘flu’ but particular signs include the following:

-Fever
-Chills
-Headache
-Shivering
-Muscle aches (mostly concentrated in the neck and back)
-Dry cough
-Productive cough (later stages)
-Cough containing pus
-Pus in sputum ( sputum is phlegm/mucus from respiratory system)
-Loss of appetite
-Weight loss
-Breathlessness
-Pneumonia
-Nausea/ Vomiting

The symptoms of psittacosis in birds can be less clearly defined and confused with other disease symptoms. The symptoms of birds encompass the following:

-Eye discharge or swelling
-Labored breathing
-Diarrhea
-Poor appetite
-“Ruffled up” appearance
-Weakness
-Shivering

Treatment:

Psittacosis is treated with antibiotics. These antibiotics consist of:

-Doxycycline
-Azithromycin
-Erythomycin
-Rifampin
-Tetracycline

The patients are generally treated for two to three weeks to prevent a relapse of infection. Doxycycline is usually the antibiotic of choice and erythromycin is used in children younger than nine years of age and in pregnant women. Other than antibiotics there is really no other treatment for psittacosis in humans.

Interesting Facts:

-If untreated the mortality rate of psittacosis can run as high as 30% in humans.
-Psittacosis is also known as parrot disease, parrot fever, and ornithosis.
-In about every 100 cases there will be one fatality in humans.
-The name psittacosis comes from the Greek word “psittakos” meaning parrot.
-The psittacosis bacteria have been isolated in more than 175 species of birds.

Websites used:

http://www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/index.php/Psittacosis/54
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/psittacosis.html
http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/psittico.htm
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/psittacosis/overview.html
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/227025-treatment
http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/communicable/psittacosis/fact_sheet.htm
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/psittacosis.aspx
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol3no2/jorgen.htm
http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/communicable/diseases/psittacosis.aspx