Written Assignment: Unit 7

University of The People

HS 2212: Infectious Diseases

Instructor: Sanjukta Majumder

May 25th, 2023

Introduction

In this unit, I have realized that zoonotic pathogens are capable of causing infections in several

body part systems, as has been exhibited by the Bacillus anthracis bacteria which causes anthrax,

infecting the skin, muscles, respiratory system, and digestive tract; and also Escherichia coli

which causes gastroenteritis, neonatal meningitis, and urinary tract infections.

Psittacosis

In this assignment, I will discuss Chlamydia psittaci which is a bacterium that causes psittacosis,

a lung infection, which originates from birds. Psittacosis also advances to complicated infections

which include inflammation of the heart, hepatitis (live infections), arthritis (joint diseases), and

sepsis. Psittacosis infections occur when one inhales the Chlamydia psittaci bacteria from the

droppings, secretions, and dust of infected birds. The infection affects the lungs causing

pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses. Some of the symptoms include fever, headache,

muscle aches and pains, cough, difficulty breathing, nausea, and vomiting. This can further

develop into more illness complications as listed above (Felson, 2023; Virginia Department of

Health, 2021)

Interaction with the systems

Psittacosis is a less common infection but it is noted to infect people who keep pets, especially

parrots, and also other birds such as doves, pigeons, and poultry. The disease has an incubation

period of about two weeks. Chlamydia psittaci is a gram-negative, intracellular bacterium. Once

exposed to the host, the infectious elementary body undergoes endocytosis, and cell lysis which
then leaves the host cell that hen results in chronic and silent infections. These released

elementary bodies then infect new host cells, propagate the disease cycle, and spread via the

hematogenous route to various organ systems (Chu et al., 2022).

Psittacosis is less common and can be severe, and cause hospitalization. It has a death rate that

accounts for less than 1%. It is also less contagious and mostly affects people in their mid ages

with an age range of 35 to 55. Transmission between humans is also rare and it rarely infects

children. The doctors can diagnose the disease if a person has a pet and the doctor prescribes

antibiotics for treatment. Chlamydia psittaci grow inside host cells. That makes them difficult to

diagnose by the usual laboratory culture methods. Treatment of such infections needs medicines

(antibiotics) that enter the cells (Felson, 2023).

Severity of infection

Considering that the psittacosis infects the lungs and develops into further complications such as

pneumonia, myocarditis, and pericarditis. Pericarditis is the most severe as it also has more

severe symptoms such as; pain in your back, neck, or left shoulder, trouble breathing when you

lie down, dry cough, palpitations, anxiety or fatigue, fever, and swelling of legs, feet, and ankles

in severe cases (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). Pericarditis has a 22% mortality rate which makes it

more severe than psittacosis, which has a 1% mortality rate.

(458 Words)
Reference

Chu, J., Naga , S., Vaqar, S., & Durrani, M. I. (2022). National Center for Biotechnology

Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538305/

Cleveland Clinic. (2022). Pericarditis: Causes, symptoms and treatment. Cleveland Clinic.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17353-pericarditis

Felson, S. (2023). Psittacosis: Causes, symptoms, dangers, and treatment. WebMD.

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-psittacosis

Virginia Department of Health. (2021, September 10). Psittacosis. Environmental Epidemiology.

https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/environmental-epidemiology/zoonoses/psittacosis/