Human chlamydiosis is a zoonotic disease of avian origin caused by Chlamydia psittaci. The highest infection rates have been detected in parrots (Psittacidae) and pigeons (Columbiformes), the latter most frequently carry the genotypes B and E. These genotypes have been shown to also infect humans. Because pigeons (Columba livia) cohabit with humans in urban areas, C. psittaci present in the dus...

Ingestion of 14C-amino acid-labeled Chlamydia psittaci (6BC) by mouse fibroblasts (L cells) was inhibited when the host cells were incubated for 30 min at 37 degrees C in Earle salts containing 10 mug of crystalline trypsin per ml. Tryptic digestion also inhibited the ingestion of 1-mum polystrene latex beads. Trypsin-treated L cells almost completely recovered their ability to ingest chlamydia...

BACKGROUND Psittacosis, an avian disease caused by Chlamydophila psittaci, can manifest as an acute, protracted, or chronic illness, but can also be asymptomatic. C. psittaci can persist in the host for months to years, often without causing obvious illness, and therefore poses a threat for zoonotic outbreak. We investigated the prevalence of C. psittaci from 156 tracheal swab samples from 34 d...

The serodiagnosis of human psittacosis was considerably improved by a microimmunofluorescence (MIF) assay that uses selected strains of Chlamydia psittaci, C. pneumoniae, and C. trachomatis as antigens. The 78 patients examined in the study were clinically diagnosed as having psittacosis on the basis of compatible clinical symptoms following exposure to sick birds. The conventional complement f...

Chlamydiae are important pathogens of a range of birds and animals including sheep, cattle, pigs, cats, goats, koalas, other Australian marsupials, amphibians and reptiles. Recent changes to chlamydial taxonomy has seen the proposal of two genera, Chlamydia/Chlamydophila with nine species – C trachomatis, C muridarum, C suis, C psittaci, C pecorum, C abortus, C caveae, C felis and C pneumoniae ...