Psittacosis

[Baldspot]

Hi!
This is my first post. I wasn't quite sure where to post it! Hope it is ok here.

We lived overseas and adopted a beautiful cockatiel from another family who was moving. We were blessed and got to have this lovely bird in our family for a little over a year. We were first time bird owners but quickly fell in love. He loved to snuggle and was very much a 'hold me' bird. We kept his cage in our most used room and left it open. He had space to fly and we left his cage open so he could fly when ever he wanted. If we were around, he always flew to us and would snuggle to watch tv or what ever.

We moved back to the states over a year ago and as we could not bring him with us (we tried) he had to go to yet another family.

Fast forward to today. I ran across an article about Psittacosis. I've never even heard of this before. So my question is: could we have contracted this and not known? My daughter, 5 at the time, did get sick and had the symptoms. She was diagnosed with Pneumonia more than once, which was going around. But we wouldn't have known to test for psittacosis.

If we did catch psittacosis and wasn't treated, would we have known something was up by now? She does have breathing issues and allergies. We assumed it was pet related... recently had to give up a dog we adopted from the pound because we feared she was allergic. Just not sure what to think now. Now I'm worried about possible heart or liver damage!

For the record, my husband, son and myself held and cuddled the bird way more than she did (as she was younger) but there was still a lot of contact all around as he always perched on us and snuggled.

Would we know? Would she be very ill now if we didn't treat it? Should I be concerned?

Thanks so much for any insight!

 

[Greycloud]

Welcome to AA! I am sorry you had to leave your friend overseas. Psittacosis can be contagious to humans. Usually when a person contracts it there is high fever indicative of infection. If your daughter was treated with antibiotics it would have treated Psittacosis. Could she still have lasting symptoms due to it, yes. I believe you can have a titer done to see if she has contracted. You may also want to just have bloodwork done to test liver functions. She may have allergies too which cause the symptoms she now presents with. I hope it is not serious but a doc visit is recommended.

 

[Lovebird Lady]

If I remember correctly from my brief research on this disease, it can be passed from bird to human, and some humans will be carriers of this disease with no symptoms, while others can be affected by this and become ill. If your daughter contracted psittacosis, it may have been due to her young age and weaker immune system than, for example, the adults in your family. The only way to tell, I would think, is to get a blood test done on your daughter to determine if it can be detected, the way birds are tested for this.

 

[jmfleish]

I believe that psittacosis has to be treated specifically with doxycillian. It is deadly if not treated, so I'm guessing that no, your daughter did not have it and neither did anyone in your family. As Judy mentioned, you can be tested for it to see if you've ever had it. It's probably worth it.

 

[Greycloud]

Here is some info for you. http://www.nasphv.org/Documents/Psittacosis.pdf

 

[Baldspot]

Wow! Thanks so much for quick responses!
I was wondering (specifically) if it was something that would have manifested itself in a definite tell-tell way (fatal)... so this does relieve a great deal of my concerns. All the reading I found, I could not find anything on contracting it and not knowing- long term effects. Being fatal, I'm guessing I should not be concerned at this point.

And... never knew you could love a bird like that! Leaving him behind was the hardest. He was family to us.

Thank you again!

 

[jmfleish]

Wow! Thanks so much for quick responses!
I was wondering (specifically) if it was something that would have manifested itself in a definite tell-tell way (fatal)... so this does relieve a great deal of my concerns. All the reading I found, I could not find anything on contracting it and not knowing- long term effects. Being fatal, I'm guessing I should not be concerned at this point.

And... never knew you could love a bird like that! Leaving him behind was the hardest. He was family to us.

Thank you again!

The article that Judy posted does say that you can relapse. It wouldn't hurt to get tested or to at least know that if anyone in your family comes down with another severe illness that you should definitely mention that you had a bird at one point. Most of us have our new birds tested for psittacosis when we bring them home, it can be a scary issue but most birds these days don't tend to have it...it's always good to know though!

 

[Baldspot]

Thanks!
We moved and left the bird almost a year and a half ago. Would we have known by now if something was amiss? Hard to tell reading the article. Thoughts?

 

[Greycloud]

Like I said, if antibiotics were given to treat the pneumonia they tend to be the same antibiotics given for Psittacosis. It is a respiratory illness so specific antibiotics are chosen to treat those symptoms. I still recommend a check up and mention what you have learned her. They can do a titer and check organ functions. It never hurts to be cautious.

 

[Baldspot]

Thank you! That sounds like a good plan. I appreciate all the feed back.

 

[SandraK]

AND, I realize I'm pushing this but after you've done your health checks on your family would you consider possibly adopting or fostering a bird - granted - if all is well with everyone in your family? You sound so very much like the kind of family that, if you couldn't keep someone, might love to help someone find a new home.

 

[roxynoodle]

I know there is a test for it because I had it done. And most doctors won't even think of it. I had to ask them if it was possible that was what was wrong with me. It actually turned out (more than a decade later before definitive diagnosis) that I had Lyme disease, but a lot of things start out with flu like symptoms and joint pain. And it started 2 weeks after I had gotten Rowdy so I was suspicious of psitticosis.

It was a long time ago now but I had myself and my bird tested.

I also think it would be great if you adopted another tiel or other bird once you know that your family is healthy

 

[Baldspot]

We are definitely adopting another tiel! My husband was reluctant to adopt the one we did... never having owned a bird. Turned out, the bird totally took to him! (Coveted a spot on my husbands chest where it loved to preen and have his bald spot scratched!) My husband fell in love and there was no going back. We are hooked!

 

[SandraK]

We are definitely adopting another tiel! My husband was reluctant to adopt the one we did... never having owned a bird. Turned out, the bird totally took to him! (Coveted a spot on my husbands chest where it loved to preen and have his bald spot scratched!) My husband fell in love and there was no going back. We are hooked!

You have no idea how happy I am to hear that! I know it sounds silly coming from someone who doesn't know you but, as small as tiels are, they are very personable and no two are alike. Sometimes they feel very much like people in how they behave and what we "see" as their outlook.

I've also lived overseas and was curious as to where you moved back from. If it's too personal, just ignore the question and I'll take the hint - I won't take it personally.

As a mini intro, I have tiels, green cheek conures, Quakers and a sun conure. When I live overseas I had a Quaker called Krakatoa as a teenager.

 

[Bailey]

I was treated for psittacosis after my girl Ava passed away and I developed flu symptoms with a 103.8 degree fever. I think they gave me Keflex. I'm allergic to penicillin, but I think that's something else that can treat it. Kirk was given doxycycline. We both recovered wonderfully. But poor Kirk lost his favorite mate.