NewsDesk @bactiman63

Officials are reporting four cases of psittacosis, or “parrot fever” in the town of Rafaela in Santa Fe province.

Thick-billed Parrot
Image/Ltshears

All of the patients are hospitalized for bilateral pneumonia derived from psittacosis, an acute and generalized infectious disease caused by Chlamydia psittaci, a type of bacteria found in the droppings of infected birds, which can transmit the infection to humans.

Two of the patients are in the Intensive Care Unit of the local Jaime Ferré hospital, while the other two are in a general sector without major complications.

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A parrot of one of the patients may have been the trigger for the cluster.

Patients with psittacosis usually present fever, headache, rash, muscle pain, chills and dry cough. Pneumonia may sometimes occur, and occasional complications include encephalitis, myocarditis and thrombophlebitis.

The disease can be treated effectively with antibiotics. The disease is not normally transmitted from person to person.