Psittacosis risk linked to wild birds
4 April 2003
Doctors have been asked to consider psittacosis in people presenting with pneumonia if they live in areas frequented by wild birds, NSW public health officers say.
(Psittacosis is a bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci, which is carried by most birds. Rarely it can cause infection in people when minute particles — usually of bird droppings that contain the bacteria — are inhaled. The subsequent infection can result in pneumonia and/or a flu-like illness.)
A case-control study in the Blue Mountains of NSW found that direct contact with wild birds, and mowing a lawn without a grass catcher on the mower were independent risk factors for psittacosis.
The study was initiated after 61 laboratory-confirmed cases of psittacosis were identified among patients hospitalised during a pneumonia outbreak in the autumn of 2002, NSW Health public health officer trainee Barbara Telfer told the Communicable Diseases Control Conference in Canberra this week.
Crimson rosellas emerged as the bird most likely to be associated with the outbreak, although this could not be confirmed.
A king parrot also tested positive for the infection.
'Direct contact with the birds involved handling feathers, handling dead birds or cleaning up bird droppings,' Ms Telfer said.
'Other forms of contact included working in an area where dust was generated, and mowing lawns without a grass catcher ... so that [people] might have been breathing in particles contaminated with infected bird droppings.'
People aged 50 to 64 years were also at higher risk.
'Psittacosis is usually acquired through contact with pet birds and poultry, but the new finding from this outbreak is that there is a risk associated with wild birds,' Ms Telfer said.
Last Reviewed: 06 April 2003
- 1. Medical Observer Weekly 4/4/03
