Abstract
The existence of the psittacosis virus in the budgerigar or shell parrakeet (Melopsittacus undulatus) bred and raised in California was demonstrated by laboratory tests. Forty-five human cases of psittacosis infection recorded in California have followed exposure of patients to this species of bird. Secondary man to man infections, contact with infected canaries or foreign birds, or indirect contact with clothing worn in an infected aviary have resulted in 9 additional cases. Ten of the 54 infections ended fatally. Before and after the recognition of these facts psittacosis cases attributed to shell parrakeets from California have been observed in Kansas City, Portland, Oregon, New York City, Chicago, Boise, Idaho, Madison, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota and New Jersey. The details of the epidemiological observations leave no doubt that the budgerigar, either visibly ill or apparently well, may transfer a disease to man indistinguishable from the malady which was attributed to the importation of infected parrots in 1929-1930. Parrot fever, due to indigenous shell parrakeets, has also been noted in England and Germany. It is surprising that the heterogeneous infection chain budgerigar or shell parrakeet—man has not received careful attention since Gordon 1 demonstrated the psittacosis virus in the spleen of a shell parrakeet obtained from the London Zoological Gardens.
Nothing definite concerning the origin or extent of the virus disease in the birds of Southern California is known. Obviously, before planning control measures to protect the public or to save the bird breeding industry from annihilation incident to the various quarantine measures by federal and state organizations it appeared desirable to survey a number of aviaries for the presence of infected birds.
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