Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Sep 15;12(9):1165.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens12091165.

Psittacosis: An Underappreciated and Often Undiagnosed Disease

Zygmunt F Dembek  1 , Jerry L Mothershead  2 , Akeisha N Owens  3 , Tesema Chekol  1 , Aiguo Wu  3
Affiliations
Review

Psittacosis: An Underappreciated and Often Undiagnosed Disease

Zygmunt F Dembek et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

The bacterial agent Chlamydia psittaci, and the resulting disease of psittacosis, is a little-known and underappreciated infectious disease by healthcare practitioners and in public health in general. C. psittaci infections can cause significant psittacosis outbreaks, with person-to-person transmission documented in the last decade. In this publication, we review the pathogen and its disease, as well as examine the potential for genetic manipulation in this organism to create a more deadly pathogen. Recent disease surveys indicate that currently, the highest incidences of human disease exist in Australia, Germany and the UK. We recommend the universal public health reporting of C. psittaci and psittacosis disease and increasing the promotion of public health awareness.

Keywords: Category B pathogen; Chlamydia psittaci; chlamydia; psittacosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Al-Abbad E.A., Albarra Y.A.I., Al Shuqayfah N.I., Nahhas A.A., Alnemari A.F., Alqurashi R.K., Abu Thiyab S.H.M., Alqubali M.K., Alhawiti M.A., Almutairi S.M. An overview of atypical pneumonia clinical features and management approach. Arch. Pharm. Pract. 2022;13:24–30. doi: 10.51847/CHgE98elpC. - DOI
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response. [(accessed on 19 July 2023)]; Available online: https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/agentlist-category.asp.
    1. Weston K.M., Polkinghorne A., Branley J.M. Psittacosis contagion in 1930: An old story in a new era of zoonotic disease. Microbes Infect. 2022;25:105076. doi: 10.1016/j.micinf.2022.105076. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Psittacosis. Fast Facts You Need to Know about Psittacosis. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [(accessed on 1 September 2023)];2022 Available online: https://www.cdc.gov/pneumonia/atypical/psittacosis/about/fast-facts.html.
    1. Hasseltine H.E. Some epidemiological aspects of psittacosis. Am. J. Public Health Nations Health. 1932;22:795–803. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.22.8.795-b. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources