Parrot fever! Psittacosis in depth

Psittacosis, also known as parrot fever, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci. It typically affects birds, particularly parrots, but can be transmitted to humans through inhalation of contaminated dust from bird droppings or respiratory secretions. In humans, psittacosis can cause flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a dry cough. If left untreated, it can lead to severe pneumonia and other complications. Treatment typically involves antibiotics, such as doxycycline. Our podcast explores Psittacosis outbreaks and how we can apply approaches to Psittacosis risk mitigation and surveillance to Avian influenza.

Produced by Ivy Vo, Isiah Espiritu and Juliet Hagar

These podcast episodes were created by members of the 2024 Spring Capstone course in the Human Biology and Society major at UCLA's Institute for Society and Genetics (https://socgen.ucla.edu/). The faculty sponsor is Christopher Kelty. For questions or concerns email [e-mail]. For more information about any of these diseases please consult the US Centers for Disease Control (https://www.cdc.gov/) .