From the end of 2023 until the middle of January this year, 23 cases of infection with parrot disease have been registered in Denmark and four people have died from the disease.
Therefore, it must now be investigated where the infection is coming from. It will take place starting from the Skagen Bird Station, which in collaboration with a number of ornithologists across the country will take samples in the hope of finding the source of infection.
This is what the Danish Ornithological Association – DOF – writes on its website.
This week, ornithologists in several places in Denmark will collect samples from feeding boards, parks, harbors and urban environments, where there are many birds that can be thought to be a source of infection with parrot disease.
– I have been around to feed boards in several places in Vendsyssel to collect samples for further analysis at the Statens Serum Institut. Samples have also been collected from harbors and urban environments, where many seagulls and pigeons, which can spread infection, traditionally reside, says Simon S. Christiansen, nature guide and superintendent at the Skagen Bird Station, which is run by DOF.
He speaks to the DOF’s website.
Ornithologists with experience in collecting samples from birds will ensure that SSI also receives material from Funen, West Zealand and the Copenhagen area.
May come from migratory birds
Parrot disease is quite rare in Denmark.
Usually 15 to 30 cases are registered in a whole year.
It is suspected that the disease may have come from migratory birds, perhaps from Sweden, which in December 2023 had several cases of parrot disease in humans.
The disease is a bacterial respiratory infection.
– In principle, all birds can become infected, but we do not know the occurrence of the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci, which causes parrot disease, in wild birds, says Søren Uldum, senior researcher at Statens Serum Institut (SSI).
– We are now trying, among other things, in collaboration with the Danish Ornithological Association to clarify the routes of infection in the outbreaks of recent months, he says to DOF’s website.
People are most often infected from domestic birds or hobby birds.
Most of the Danish patients who have been infected since December 2023 report no or unknown contact with birds.
However, some have stated that they have fed birds at a bird board or automatic feeder.
Parrot disease in humans is often a mild illness with flu-like symptoms such as fever, muscle aches and headaches.
In some, the disease can develop into a serious pneumonia. The four Danes who have died in recent months have all been over 65.
There have been no registered cases of the disease since 25 February.
2024-03-13 16:33:59
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