Ornithosis refers to zoonotic infections and is characterized by high fever, severe intoxication of the body, damage to the nervous and respiratory systems, as well as an increase in the spleen and liver.
Important information
The causative agent of this disease is a bacterium from the chlamydia family. Infection occurs through the respiratory or digestive tract. Bacteria are carried by domestic and wild birds.
People of middle or older age are more likely to get sick, the disease among children is much less common.
Infection with ornithosis can occur from a sick person or a bird that is affected by chlamydia.
When psittacosis develops, symptoms may be atypical. In this case, the disease proceeds without damage to the lungs. There may be an enlargement of the liver or spleen. If chlamydia primarily enters the mucous membranes of the respiratory system, then inflammation of the lungs develops, followed by the spread of the pathogen through the blood, which leads to severe intoxication and viremia. In this case, a typical clinical picture is observed.
Ornithosis: symptoms in humans
The incubation period for this disease lasts 1-3weeks.
In the acute form of the disease, patients develop fever, chills, and sweating. They complain of insomnia, sometimes nausea or constipation may occur. If ornithosis is diagnosed, the symptoms of this disease in 1-2% of cases include typical manifestations of meningitis.
Conjunctivitis often develops with ornithosis. Patients are in a state of depression, they are apathetic or, conversely, excited. Subsequently, signs of laryngitis or tracheobronchitis appear, a cough is observed. The cardiovascular system is also affected, which leads to hypotension, muffled heart sounds.
When psittacosis occurs, symptoms can be chronic. This affects the internal organs, diagnosed with chronic bronchitis and persistent cough.
Chlamydia infection in childhood occurs in the form of otitis media, nasopharyngitis, vulvovaginitis or pneumonia. When ornithosis develops in children, the symptoms are typical. Often there are complications in the form of myocarditis, neuritis, inflammation of the liver (hepatitis).
After the disease, stable immunity is formed for 3 years. Reinfection may occur.
Ornithosis: symptoms in birds
On what grounds can we assume that a bird develops ornithosis, and that it is epidemiologically dangerous for people around?
Chlamydial infection can occur in different ways, sometimes completely asymptomatic. Parrots in the acute period of the disease are depressed, they have no reaction to external stimuli. There are signs of asthenia - the birds sit sleepy, the feathers are ruffled. Breathing becomes noisy, mucous exudate begins to stand out from the nasal passages, and the litter becomes green in color. Symptoms persist for up to eight days. If there is a lightning-fast course of ornithosis, then death occurs within a few hours.
In poultry, ornithosis can occur without obvious clinical manifestations. In this case, conjunctivitis and a decrease in fertility are sometimes observed. There are no other symptoms. In rare cases, the same clinical picture of ornithosis develops as in sick parrots. It should be noted that juveniles take the disease more severely, as they develop typical respiratory, digestive or nervous disorders that are fatal.
