In early February, Grandpa Zhang, a 62-year-old Shenzhen resident, suddenly developed a nearly 39℃ fever, accompanied by dizziness, fatigue, muscle soreness in his limbs, and other symptoms. After being examined in the hospital, Zhang was diagnosed with Chlamydia psittaci.

According to his epidemiological history, Zhang started raising a parrot in early January and cleaned the parrot's feces daily without any protective measures. At the end of January, the parrot got diarrhea and died. Zhang started to have symptoms after he buried the parrot.

 (Photo: Nangfang Plus)

What is Chlamydia psittaci?

Chlamydia psittaci is a type of bacteria that often infects birds. Less commonly, these bacteria can infect people and cause psittacosis. Psittacosis can cause mild illness or pneumonia (lung infection).

It can be carried by and cause infection by birds, poultry, and wild animals. Animal-to-human transmission can occur through respiratory inhalation or close contact. Human-to-human transmission is also possible but relatively rare.

The main symptoms of Chlamydia psittaci infection in humans are respiratory diseases, but the clinical manifestations may vary. The usual symptoms are chills, fever, fatigue, severe headache, and body muscle pain. Some severe cases soon develop into severe pneumonia, endocarditis, and encephalitis, which is fatal.

However, if exact etiology was found and patients were given proper treatment in time, the fatal rate would decrease to less than 1%.

The incubation period is generally seven to 15 days. The shortest incubation period is three days, and the longest would be 45 days.

Clinical manifestations of Chlamydia psittaci

The clinical manifestations of psittacosis are diverse. The onset of Chlamydia psittaci may be slow, with the body temperature rising gradually within three to four days or longer. However, most cases are acute, with high fever, chills, and a relatively slow pulse.

There are also symptoms such as general malaise, fatigue, lack of appetite. Severe headaches and widespread muscle pain are common complaints, limb, and trunk myalgia can prevent the patient from standing, and spasms and stiffness of the back and neck muscles can be misdiagnosed as meningitis.

Some cases have nasal bleeding or macula. Cough, mucus, or bloody sputum developed after about one week.

Severe cases may appear as dyspnea, cyanosis, irritability, delirium, stupor or even comas. Some instances have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal symptoms if jaundice is involved in the liver.

Thrombophlebitis may occur during convalescence, and sometimes a late complication of a pulmonary infarction may be fatal.

In addition, endocarditis, myocarditis, pericarditis, jaundice hepatitis, suppurative otitis media, acute bronchitis, and other complications may rarely occur.

In mild cases, there are few signs, with only pharyngeal congestion and small localized moist rales in the lungs. In severe cases, there are signs of lung consolidation and liver, spleen, and superficial lymph node enlargement.

Chlamydia psittaci prevention

The primary prevention of Chlamydia psittaci is to avoid contact with sick birds. Tetracycline, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, and other antibiotics can be used in treatment. Frequently sterilize the polluted areas and quarantine with patients.