Warning after Aussie pets present with chlamydia symptoms at vet
Symptoms in humans can include fever, head and muscle aches, chills, weakness, breathlessness, or a dry cough.
A city vet is urging pet owners to be on the lookout for symptoms associated with a highly contagious form of chlamydia. The pathogen originates in both pet and wild birds and can be transmitted to humans. If left untreated it can be fatal in rare instances.
Unlike the chlamydia trachomatis bacteria that’s spread through sexual contact between humans, chlamydia psittaci can be transmitted through a simple sneeze. NSW Health lists symptoms in humans presenting as a fever, head and muscle aches, chills, weakness, breathlessness, or a dry cough. In rare cases it can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis in the brain, and myocarditis in the heart.
While the three cases that presented to the Wild Vet in Sydney in the last week are yet to be confirmed, its principal veterinarian Dr Emma Hall shared details of the cases with Yahoo News so pet owners are aware of the symptoms. “We’ve got two we’re pretty much convinced have chlamydia and another one that’s highly suspicious... It's a notifiable disease with the department of health, so it's a big one,” she said.
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Having contracted the bacterial infection twice, Hall has a personal understanding of how severe it can be. “I had pneumonia once. The second time I entered the consult room and the bird flew straight onto my shoulder and sneezed in my face and then tested positive for chlamydia. So I ended up going straight on antibiotics because I knew I had to be infected,” she said.
What symptoms do birds with chlamydia psittaci show?
If you suspect your bird might be ill, don't panic, it probably just needs a vet. Like humans, birds with the disease can be treated and often make a full recovery. Symptoms include swollen eyes, diarrhoea, weakness, ruffled feathers, poor feeding and a runny nose or eyes.
“It can affect any species. It's more in birds that have come from pet shops, or have recently been in boarding at a place that doesn't take proper quarantine measures or test birds before they come in,” Hall said.
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There is no vaccine for chlamydia psittaci, so Hall suggests having all new pet birds tested. You can find out more about the disease here.
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