Fast Facts You Need to Know about Psittacosis
- Chlamydia psittaci bacteria can infect people and cause psittacosis. Up until recently, scientists called the bacteria Chlamydophila psittaci.
- Some people refer to psittacosis as parrot disease or parrot fever, but the bacteria can infect many types of birds.
Learn more about psittacosis and what causes it.
- Since 2010, there have typically been fewer than 10 cases reported in the United States each year. However, in 2018, a multistate psittacosis outbreak among poultry plant workers had 13 laboratory confirmed cases.
- A large pandemic of psittacosis in 1929 and 1930 affected about 800 people around the world, including people in the United States.
- Control Chlamydia psittaci infection among birds.
- Follow precautions when handling and cleaning birds and cages.
Learn more about how to prevent psittacosis.