Parrot fever has killed 5 people in Europe. Should Canadians be worried? – National | 24CA News
A lethal outbreak of psittacosis, also called parrot fever, is spreading throughout Europe, prompting a warning from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO introduced on Tuesday that parrot fever instances have been on the rise in a number of European nations since November 2023, leading to 5 reported deaths thus far.
In a illness outbreak notification, the worldwide well being company highlighted current instances in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. In most instances, the contaminated individuals had been in touch with both a home or wild hen.
“This is one of those things where people who own pet birds should just be aware that this is a potential pathogen you can get from your pet bird,” infectious illnesses specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch advised Global News. “But for the general community at this point in time, there’s really nothing to be concerned about.”
He talked about that whereas there have been instances of psittacosis in Canada, they’re exceedingly uncommon. And, if somebody does contract it, the probability of demise from the sickness can be low.
“It’s something that’s being monitored and this was picked up because there are more robust surveillance systems in many parts of the world,” he mentioned.
Parrot fever is a respiratory an infection brought on by the micro organism Chlamydia psittaci, generally present in birds, in line with Health Canada.
“It’s a distant relative to the chlamydia, the sexually-transmitted infection, but this is not a sexually-transmitted infection,” Bogoch mentioned. “But from a genetic relative standpoint, it’s a cousin.”
It is a zoonotic illness, which means though it primarily impacts birds, can even infect people who come into contact with them, their droppings, feathers, or respiratory secretions. This threat is especially excessive for individuals in occupations involving birds, equivalent to pet hen homeowners, poultry employees, veterinarians and gardeners.
The micro organism, in line with the WHO, is thought to have an effect on greater than 450 hen species (with parrots being the most typical carriers) and can even unfold to different animals like canine, cats, horses, cattle and reptiles.
Parrot fever is taken into account a uncommon illness, and its actual prevalence will not be well-documented. However, in line with Health Canada, human instances usually occur sporadically.
It can be not a nationally notifiable illness in Canada, the well being company advised Global News in an e mail despatched on Wednesday.
If a hen is contaminated with psittacosis, frequent signs embody poor urge for food or weight reduction, infected or runny eyes or nostril, respiration difficulties and diarrhea.
Birds with latent infections could appear wonderful at first however might present signs afterward, in line with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). Those carrying the micro organism additionally might intermittently shed it for weeks and even months.
In people, it may trigger pneumonia, Bogoch mentioned.
“And like any other pneumonia, it can be serious. It’s kind of challenging to diagnose in terms of honing in that this is actually psittacosis, as a pathogen,” he mentioned.
If contaminated, the indicators and signs seem inside 4 to fifteen days after publicity however generally happen after 10 days. The most typical signs in people embody fever and chills, headache, muscle aches and dry cough.
Parrot fever primarily impacts the lungs however can even affect varied organs, the CCOHS mentioned. While unusual, irritation of the liver, pericardium (lining of the center cavity), myocardium (coronary heart muscle), and mind have been reported.
The illness’s development varies, and whereas demise is feasible, it’s uncommon. In gentle instances, fever might persist for 3 weeks or longer.
While birds that carry this illness might be crossing worldwide borders, there’s at the moment no indication of this illness being unfold by people nationally or internationally, the WHO mentioned.
Generally, individuals don’t unfold the micro organism that causes psittacosis to different individuals, so there’s a low probability of additional human-to-human transmission of the illness.
“It would be unusual to do that,” Bogoch mentioned. “There’s so few cases of this and this is something that we look for from time to time. And then when there’s an appropriate epidemiologic exposure, but we rarely find it.”
The illness can be not unfold by consuming contaminated animals, the CCOHS mentioned.
What are the remedy choices?
Bogoch defined that the remedy method for somebody contaminated with psittacosis is essentially just like that for pneumonia, which is usually antibiotics.
“The conventional antibiotics are used to treat this that we typically treat community-acquired pneumonia,” he defined.
“So when someone comes into the hospital and they’re sick with pneumonia, we rarely make a microbiological diagnosis. When we treat pneumonia, we treat it as a syndrome.“
A health-care provider may sometimes send a sample to a lab to confirm a diagnosis of psittacosis, especially if the patient has a pet bird, he noted.
“So (psittacosis) may be more common than we know because we don’t look for it. And when we want to look for it, it takes a long time to get those diagnostic tests back,” Bogoch mentioned.
About the outbreak in Europe
While the instances are nonetheless extremely uncommon, the WHO mentioned the involved nations have applied epidemiological investigations to determine potential exposures and clusters of instances.
The improve in reported psittacosis instances throughout all nations “requires additional investigation to determine whether it is a true increase in cases or an increase due to more sensitive surveillance or diagnostic techniques,” the WHO added.
In Austria, 14 confirmed instances of parrot fever have been reported in 2023, in comparison with the typical of two instances per 12 months within the earlier eight years, in line with the WHO. In 2024, the nation has reported 4 instances of the illness as of March 4.
Denmark reported a rise in parrot fever instances from late 2023 to mid-January 2024, the WHO mentioned. As of Feb. 27, 23 people examined constructive for the illness. Seventeen instances have been hospitalized, of whom 15 had pneumonia and 4 died.
The National Health Institute of Denmark suspects that infections are primarily related to wild birds by means of the inhalation of airborne particles from the dried droppings of contaminated birds.
“It is assumed that the actual number of individuals infected with C. psittaci is much higher than reported,” the WHO mentioned within the assertion.
Germany reported a rise in people who examined constructive for the micro organism in December 2023 with 5 confirmed instances, making a complete of 14 confirmed instances in 2023. In 2024, as of Feb. 20,, one other 5 confirmed instances of psittacosis have been reported.
Sweden reported an unusually excessive variety of instances of psittacosis in late November 2023 and early December 2023, with seven instances reported in November 2023 and 19 instances reported in December 2023. This represents a doubling of the variety of instances in comparison with respective months within the earlier 5 years, the WHO mentioned.
The WHO mentioned it’s persevering with to watch rising instances in Europe, although it deemed “the risk posed by this event as low.”
