ornithosis
Sign in to saveAlso known as psittacosis, parrot fever
Psittacosis, also known as parrot fever or ornithosis, is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci. Birds are the main reservoir, and human infection usually follows inhalation of aerosolised dried droppings or respiratory secretions from infected birds. Although many human infections are mild, psittacosis can cause pneumonia and occasionally severe complications including endocarditis, hepatitis, and neurologic disease.
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Psittacosis
- Medical condition (new).field
- Infectious medicinePulmonology
- Medical condition (new).image
- Chlamydophila psittaci FA stain.jpg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Direct fluorescent antibody stain of a mouse brain impression smear showing C. psittaci
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
3,296 papers- [Ornithosis].Tidsskrift for den Norske laegeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny raekke · 2025
- ORNITHOSIS.Journal of the American Medical Association · 1956
- Ornithosis.Medicine illustrated · 1953
- [Ornithosis].Schweizerische medizinische Wochenschrift · 1958
- [Ornithosis].Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde · 1957
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- atypical pneumonia
- Image
- Chlamydophila psittaci FA stain.jpg
Show 13 more facts
- health specialty
- infectious diseases
- has host
- Psittacidae
- medical examination
- biopsy
- Commons category
- Psittacosis
- NCI Thesaurus ID
- C34873
- exact match
- identifiers.org/doid/DOID:11262
- has cause
- Chlamydophila psittaci
- minimal incubation period in humans
- 5
- maximal incubation period in humans
- 19
- ICD-9-CM
- 073.9
- drug or therapy used for treatment
- moxifloxacin
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- WikiProject Medicine
- symptoms and signs
- chills
Sources (6)
via Wikidata · CC0
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
17 sectionsContents
- In humans
- Transmission and reservoirs
- Signs and symptoms
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Epidemiology
- History
- In birds
- Signs
- Diagnosis
- Epidemiology
- One Health and public health significance
- Use as a biological weapon
- Notable casualties
- References
- External links
Psittacosis, also known as parrot fever or ornithosis, is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci. Birds are the main reservoir, and human infection usually follows inhalation of aerosolised dried droppings or respiratory secretions from infected birds. Although many human infections are mild, psittacosis can cause pneumonia and occasionally severe complications including endocarditis, hepatitis, and neurologic disease.
==In humans== == Transmission and reservoirs == C. psittaci commonly infects birds, including psittacine birds such as parrots, parakeets, cockatiels, and budgerigars, but human infection has also been linked to pigeons, turkeys, chickens, ducks, and other birds. Many infected birds have no obvious clinical signs but may shed organisms in feces and respiratory secretions for prolonged periods.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “ornithosis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.