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Chlamydia psittaci
Wed, 08/19/2009 - 10:52 — aemtek
Genus:
Chlamydia
Species:
psittaci
Distribution:
This is gram negative, spherical, 0.4-0.6 um intracellular bacterium.
Substrate:
Common household pets like parrots and cockatoos are often carriers of C. psittaci. Some birds are actually subclinical carriers in that they do not show any sympotoms themselves but shed the infectious bacteria.
Dispersal:
The route of infection is inhalation of the infectious agent.
Pathogenicity:
The bacterium is the causing agent of Psittacosis, which presents as a range of symptoms from mild respiratory tract infections with flu-like symptoms or severe pneumonia or fatal systemic infection.
Notes On Identification:
Detection of C. psittaci by culture is a long and tedious process and requires cell culture and special methods. The newer and faster method of detection is specific DNA detection directly from the samples.