Psittacosis
This is a relatively common disease in pet birds, but the disease can be silent for weeks, months or even years before symptoms occur in your bird. Read below to learn about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of this silent killer.
What is Psittacosis?
This disease is caused by a bacterium called Chlamydophila psittaci. This bacterium lives inside the host's cells and is excreted in the feces and ocular and nasal discharge, but it is not shed all the time (this becomes important for diagnosis). Infected birds can appear perfectly healthy for quite some time, but can be shedding this organism consistently. It typically takes 3-21 days for symptoms to show up in newly infected or stressed birds. Many birds that become ill have just been transported or housed with other birds (such as at a pet store or pet show) but some birds show symptoms after no known exposure. These birds may have been harboring this bacterium for months and only break with the disease when they become stressed for some reason (i.e. moving, a new addition to the family, concurrent illness, etc.)
What are the Symptoms?
There is a large range of symptoms for psittacosis. These include:
Can People Catch It?
Yes, people can contract psittacosis, usually through contact with infected birds. We recommend testing all new birds for Chlamydophila infections before bringing them into your home.
How Do You Diagnose It?
There are several methods for diagnosing psittacosis in birds. The most common one we use here is the PCR test, which identifies the bacterial DNA from a swab of the back of the throat (where bacteria are shed in the ocular and nasal secretions) and of the cloaca (where bacteria can be shed in the feces).
One of the challenging aspects of diagnosing Chlamydophila is that the bacterium is not shed at all times in secretions or feces. For most sick birds, they will be shedding the bacterium at the time of illness so these tests usually come up positive. But clinically normal birds that are infected will not always shed the bacterium, so at the time we take a sample there may be no evidence that your bird is infected. Please keep this in mind if the test is repeated at a later date if the bird becomes ill and the test returns positive.
How Do You Treat It?
Luckily Chlamydophila is susceptible to doxycycline, a routine antibiotic. We sometimes need to start with injections depending on how sick your bird is. Any patient with suspicious symptoms will be started on empirical antibiotic therapy with doxycycline while awaiting test results. Often hospitalization with secondary supportive care is necessary. Death from dehydration and emaciation are both concerns, and hospitalized birds often need regular fluid therapy and feedings to maintain their weights. It is important to finish the entire course of prescribed antibiotics - often these birds will improve after the first week, but will relapse if antibiotic therapy is not continued the full 45 day course.
Another important part of treatment is thorough cleaning of the home environment and testing any other birds you own to make sure none of them are harboring the bacteria. Chlamydophila is not a hardy organism and does not survive long outside the body unless it is present in organic material (feces especially). Thoroughly scrub, disinfect, and rinse all caging material, toys and perches appropriately at the beginning and right before discontinuing the antibiotics in order to prevent re-infection.
How Do I Prevent My Bird From Getting Psittacosis?
When purchasing a new bird, make sure there are no clinical signs of disease (the bird should not be showing any symptoms listed above). New birds should be quarantined when being introduced into a household with an established bird population for a minimum of 30 days. See the discussion on how to do a proper bird quarantine to learn how. New birds should also be tested for psittacosis before being introduced into the population.
If your current bird is suspected to have psittacosis, try to minimize stress as much as possible at home. If you have other birds, take your sick bird to another room in order to minimize the risk of transmitting Chlamydophila. Handle your sick bird after your healthy birds, and wash your hands well and change your clothing before handling your healthy birds.
What is Psittacosis?
This disease is caused by a bacterium called Chlamydophila psittaci. This bacterium lives inside the host's cells and is excreted in the feces and ocular and nasal discharge, but it is not shed all the time (this becomes important for diagnosis). Infected birds can appear perfectly healthy for quite some time, but can be shedding this organism consistently. It typically takes 3-21 days for symptoms to show up in newly infected or stressed birds. Many birds that become ill have just been transported or housed with other birds (such as at a pet store or pet show) but some birds show symptoms after no known exposure. These birds may have been harboring this bacterium for months and only break with the disease when they become stressed for some reason (i.e. moving, a new addition to the family, concurrent illness, etc.)
What are the Symptoms?
There is a large range of symptoms for psittacosis. These include:
- Lethargy or a fluffed appearance
- Anorexia or decreased appetite
- Weight loss (often severe)
- Ocular and/or nasal discharge
- Conjunctivitis
- Diarrhea (often with a yellow-green or bright green color)
- Sudden death
Can People Catch It?
Yes, people can contract psittacosis, usually through contact with infected birds. We recommend testing all new birds for Chlamydophila infections before bringing them into your home.
How Do You Diagnose It?
There are several methods for diagnosing psittacosis in birds. The most common one we use here is the PCR test, which identifies the bacterial DNA from a swab of the back of the throat (where bacteria are shed in the ocular and nasal secretions) and of the cloaca (where bacteria can be shed in the feces).
One of the challenging aspects of diagnosing Chlamydophila is that the bacterium is not shed at all times in secretions or feces. For most sick birds, they will be shedding the bacterium at the time of illness so these tests usually come up positive. But clinically normal birds that are infected will not always shed the bacterium, so at the time we take a sample there may be no evidence that your bird is infected. Please keep this in mind if the test is repeated at a later date if the bird becomes ill and the test returns positive.
How Do You Treat It?
Luckily Chlamydophila is susceptible to doxycycline, a routine antibiotic. We sometimes need to start with injections depending on how sick your bird is. Any patient with suspicious symptoms will be started on empirical antibiotic therapy with doxycycline while awaiting test results. Often hospitalization with secondary supportive care is necessary. Death from dehydration and emaciation are both concerns, and hospitalized birds often need regular fluid therapy and feedings to maintain their weights. It is important to finish the entire course of prescribed antibiotics - often these birds will improve after the first week, but will relapse if antibiotic therapy is not continued the full 45 day course.
Another important part of treatment is thorough cleaning of the home environment and testing any other birds you own to make sure none of them are harboring the bacteria. Chlamydophila is not a hardy organism and does not survive long outside the body unless it is present in organic material (feces especially). Thoroughly scrub, disinfect, and rinse all caging material, toys and perches appropriately at the beginning and right before discontinuing the antibiotics in order to prevent re-infection.
How Do I Prevent My Bird From Getting Psittacosis?
When purchasing a new bird, make sure there are no clinical signs of disease (the bird should not be showing any symptoms listed above). New birds should be quarantined when being introduced into a household with an established bird population for a minimum of 30 days. See the discussion on how to do a proper bird quarantine to learn how. New birds should also be tested for psittacosis before being introduced into the population.
If your current bird is suspected to have psittacosis, try to minimize stress as much as possible at home. If you have other birds, take your sick bird to another room in order to minimize the risk of transmitting Chlamydophila. Handle your sick bird after your healthy birds, and wash your hands well and change your clothing before handling your healthy birds.