AN OUTBREAK OF CHLAMYDIOSIS IN CAPTIVE BLUE-FRONTED AMAZON PARROTS (AMAZONA AESTIVA) IN BRAZIL

• DOI: 10.1638/02-090
• Publication Date: 2009-02-05T15:30:52Z
• Authors: Tânia de Freitas ...; Sílvia Nery Godoy; Liliane Milanelo; Cláudia Almeida I...; Eliana Reiko Matu...; João Pessoa Araújo; Aramis Augusto Pinto
• Keywords: Male; Time Factors; Amazona; bird disease; epidemic; Disease Outbreaks; 0403 veterinary science; Parrots; male; case report; pathogenicity; Animalia; Animals; animal; Blue-fronted Amazon parrot; Animal Husbandry; parrot; Psittacidae; time; animal husbandry; doxycycline; isolation and purification; Bird Diseases; microbiology; methodology; 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences; Psittacosis; Amazona aestiva; mortality; Anti-Bacterial Agents; 3. Good health; antiinfective agent; female; Chlamydophila psittaci; ornithosis; Doxycycline; Chlamydiosis; Female; animal disease; Aves; Brazil

Fifty-eight blue-fronted Amazon parrot (Amazona aestiva) nestlings, recovered from the illegal trade, became ill at a wildlife rehabilitation center in São Paulo State, Brazil. Clinical signs observed were nonspecific, and the mortality rate was 96.5% despite initial treatment with norfloxacin. Postmortem examinations were performed on 10 birds. Liver and spleen smears showed structures suggestive of Chlamydophila psittaci in four cases. Diagnosis was confirmed by seminested polymerase chain reaction on tissue samples. Other birds from the same location showed no clinical signs of the disease, although high complement fixation titers to C. psittaci were found in 10 adult psittacines. All birds in the facility were treated with doxycycline. The two surviving nestlings did not recover after two doxycycline treatments and were euthanatized. The high mortality rate observed in this outbreak was attributed to poor conditions of husbandry and delays in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. After diagnosis, improved control measures for chlamydiosis were instituted.