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"Parrot fever", another disease alarms doctors, five dead in Europe
2024-03-07 09:32:26 / EKONOMI&SOCIALE
A deadly outbreak of psittacosis, a bacterial infection also known as parrot fever, has affected people living in several European countries, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
The outbreak was first noticed in 2023 and continued until earlier this year, when five people were reported dead, according to CNN.
Parrot fever is caused by bacteria in the Chlamydia family found in a variety of wild and domestic birds and fowl. Infected birds don't always look sick, but they shed the bacteria when they breathe or defecate.
People usually contract parrot fever by inhaling dust from the secretions of an infected bird, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can also get sick if a bird bites them or through beak-to-mouth contact. The disease is not spread through eating infected animals.
Human-to-human transmission is possible but rare, studies show. In most of the recent cases, people were exposed to domesticated or wild birds that were infected, the WHO said.
Most people who contract parrot fever have a mild illness that begins five to 14 days after exposure to a sick bird and may include a headache, muscle aches, a dry cough, fever and chills. Antibiotics can treat the infection and it is rarely fatal in humans.
Austria, which usually has two cases of the disease each year, reported 14 confirmed cases in 2023 and four more this year, as of March 4. The cases are unrelated and none of the individuals reported traveling abroad or coming into contact with wild birds.
Denmark typically faces 15 to 30 human cases each year, most of which stem from exposure to pet birds or hobby birds such as racing pigeons.
There have been 23 confirmed cases of the outbreak since Feb. 27, but public health officials there suspect the number of cases is actually much higher, the WHO said.
Of those Danish cases, 17 people were hospitalized; 15 had pneumonia and four died.
At least one person in Denmark contracted parrot fever from a bird. Of the remaining 15 cases with available exposure information, 12 said they had contact with wild birds primarily through bird feeders. In three of the cases, the patients had no history of contact with poultry of any kind.
Germany had 14 confirmed cases of parrot fever in 2023. There have been five more this year. Almost all people had pneumonia and 16 were hospitalized.
Of the 19 cases in Germany, five reported exposure to sick birds or chickens.
Sweden has seen an increase in the number of cases of parrot fever since 2017.
It reported an unusually high number of cases in late November and early December, with 26. There have been 13 cases this year, which is fewer than the number reported for the same time period in the past five years.
The Netherlands has also seen a surge in cases, with 21 cases from late December to February 29, twice as many as the same period in previous years, the WHO said. Usually that country has about nine cases a year.
All of the recent Dutch cases have been hospitalized, where one person has died. Eight reported no contact with birds, seven had contact with domestic bird droppings, and six had contact with wild bird droppings.
The WHO said it will continue to monitor the outbreak together with affected countries.
The organization is encouraging doctors to be on the lookout for infection and warning poultry owners and workers who have frequent contact with birds to practice good hand hygiene.
The WHO advises that people who have tame birds should take care to keep cages clean and avoid overcrowding.
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