Chlamydia psittaci

Laboratory Diagnosis
 Laboratory Diagnosis
• Culture
• Antigen Detection
• Serology
• Molecular Methods
 Culture
• C psittaci is a Biosafety Level 3 pathogen
(Transmission of the organisms from patient
specimens or infected cell cultures can occur
though aerosolisation or splashes onto
mucous membranes)
• Culture can be dangerous and not a routine
procedure.
 Culture
Advantages
Provides clinical isolates for genotyping,
antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and
next generation sequencing
Disadvantages
• Time-consuming
• Technically difficult; requires
specialized expertise
• Must be cultivated within a tissue
culture, mice, or chick embryo
• Few laboratories perform
 Antigen Detection
Antigen detection by DFA staining or by
immunoassay or molecular diagnosis by PCR is
done in reference or research laboratories.
 Serology
A confirmed case has:

A positive culture result or associated with a

compatible clinical illness plus a fourfold or
greater change in antibody titer to at least 1:32
or a single MIF IgM titer of at least 1:16.
 Serology
Advantages:
Tests are available in many clinical laboratories

Disadvantages:
• Cross-reaction between species may occur
• Requires acute and convalescent samples, and
delays confirmation
 Real-time polymerase chain reaction

Preferred Method

Advantages:
• Rapid detection
• Sensitive and specific
• Results can be obtained in time to guide
treatment decisions
• Useful for strain typing
 Immunity
• Live or inactivated vaccines for C psittaci
induce only partial resistance in animals.
• Not been used on humans.
• A carrier state in humans can persist for 10
years after recovery.
• During this period, the agent may continue to
be excreted in the sputum.
 Treatment
• Most infections are treated based only on the
clinical diagnosis.
• Doxycycline and tetracycline
• Alternatives: Macrolides and
Fluoroquinolones
 Epidemiology and Control
• Since 2010, there have been fewer than 10
confirmed cases reported in the United States
each year.
• Outbreaks of human disease can occur
whenever there is close and continued contact
between humans and infected birds that
excrete or shed large amounts of infectious
agent
 Epidemiology and Control
• Control of bird shipment, quarantine, testing
of imported birds for psittacosis infection, and
prophylactic tetracyclines in bird feed have
helped to control this source