Psittacosis exchange

[sunshinemama91]

Kept wondering why my flu is progressing instead of getting better and how my kids have managed not to get it.... Then I saw an article titled "Why you should never kiss your parrot" and the symptoms line up literally to a T. With the conditions this poor baby was in, I'm an not surprised at all either. Both her and I need to get to the Dr. Which is going to be a financial crisis because of Christmas, naturally. We have Nation wide insurance so at least some cushion for reimbursement. Oiiffff halp my life is broken [emoji23][emoji23][emoji24][emoji24] no more kisses for Gracie and that's pretty much her favorite thing.

 

[Kiwibird]

Is your bird showing symptoms of being ill? They generally don’t transmit this disease unless actively ill themselves and it is *exceedingly rare* for humans to contract parrot fever anyways. This is an illness that can be tested for and treated in birds and humans.

I would think it much more likely you have the flu or some nasty kind of nasty cold/respiratory illness. I know I had a respiratory type illness a few months back that just would not go away. I coughed and sneezed for weeks. It was something unpleasant, but not parrot fever. Parrot fever is generally spread (in captive parrots) in dirty aviary type settings (such as a bad backyard breeding setup) or hoarding scenarios and was a concern decades ago. It is not at all common these days as birds are generally kept in much better/more sanitary conditions than they used to be. The vast majority of pet parrots are not carriers and articles like what you read spread fear and misinformation making birds seem Like “dirty” and “disease riddled” animals when they are not. Kissing your parrot is actually more likely to make your bird sick from the bacteria in your mouth than the other way around.

 

[sunshinemama91]

She came from a place that was unbelievably filthy and disgusting. Her cage had a thick crusted layer of poop, so did the floor, her toys, everything she came with was like beyond disgusting. I'm at the doctor's office now and came up negative for the flu. They thought I was a psychopath when I came in, now they are thinking twice.

 

[sunshinemama91]

They may take my sweet girl for quarantine if this tests positive, they have never seen it before an in the US it is nearly completely unheard of.

 

[sunshinemama91]

This was what she came from, hoarding, smoking, filthy, neglected and this was after the pans were emptied. There was hardly a clean spot on the cage. Her perch.... everything COVERED with caked on dried poop. I know how much this girl poops it would have taken 6 months to a year to make the mess that it was.

 

[noodles123]

sad---I do know people who have contracted it in the US (although it is somewhat rare).

 

[Laurasea]

Keep us posted. I hope you feel better soon.
If your parrot has it it's easily treated, tho you do have to treat for an extended time and keep things very very clean so no reinfecting.

Humans are treated with the same meds I think. People do get it , not very often, but not u heard of.

Many years ago I got pretty sick just after getting a parrot. I ended having an abscess in my sinuses not parrot fever. They also talked about allergies to parrrots and thankfully that was not the case either.

Anyway I hope they find out what you have, and that you feel much better soon!!!

 

[sunshinemama91]

Thanks guys. I was about mocked out of the hospital today, I could hear them making fun of me down the frigging hall as if my theory wasn't even possible and I was just some crazy person who didnt get their flu shot and googled symptoms and came up with some rare disease to make an excuse for a basic illness. They laughed and mocked while I sat in the room crying and embarrassed because I didnt even know how rare it is, my symptoms just matched to a fine point and looking into bird symptoms, she seems to also have a number of them as well. Jokes on them though, no flu. It could of course be an upper respiratory infection that's getting out of hand mixed with the most horrific case of Pre Menstrual symptoms I've ever had or despite my tubal I'm pregnant and it hit frigging hard, but something keeps telling me this is more than something super normal, and when that voice in there speaks THAT clearly, its usually better to just listen and make sure. I'd like to just find out I'm pregnant and have a gnarly URI that can be fixed by a quick round of antibiotics. If it comes back positive though, oh boy. I'll be happy because I wasnt made to be a crazy bird lady.

 

[Kiwibird]

I will be interested to hear the results of the testing. I would be pretty surprised to hear of a case of psittaciosis being transmitted to a human from a rather healthy looking, asymptomatic bird. Even though her conditions were pretty appalling, it does not look like she was in close contact with other parrots in poor health or wild birds.

The reason I know a bit about this disease is there was concern that our amazon had it when we first adopted him. He was displaying possible symptoms and came from a home with other birds and animals. He tested negative and in fact just had a long term URI that needed 2 rounds of antibiotics to kick. That was 11 years ago and even back then when I was researching it, it was becoming much less common to see cases of it in pet parrots.

 

[Laurasea]

It is terrible that they made fun of you and laughed!! Completely unprofessional! Especially as human infections can occur. And it is wise of you to tell them of the possibility. All bases should be covered. You deserved compassion and respect, especially as you are sick with something!

A long time ago I was exposed to leptospirosis. I was able to to confirm my infection myself with dark feild microscopy. When I went to the doctor they had never heard of leptospirosis. I had to throw unholy fit , and tell them the type of antibiotics I needed, and wouldn't leave till I got them! Thankfully I was treated before the test that took a week to confirm, came back positive.

Ugh , wether or not you have parrot fever, they should have been thankful for you providing the information. Because they should have been made aware. Since your bird isn't actually sick it is a low risk. But many birds can be carriers and but not sick , so even though the odds are very low. You were just being helpful providing them info that they would not have thought of on their own. I'm upset in your behalf that you are treated so bad.

I hope you feel better soon! I hope they figure out what is wrong. I hope you have people around you to help make you soup, bring you hot tea, fuss over you, and help you feel better.

 

[sunshinemama91]

I still have not gotten results from the blood sample they took, but my family all came down with the same thing after it hit me, mine just came a full week earlier than theirs and lasted about twice as long. We have no idea what blasted through our home and probably wont.

 

[Kiwibird]

I see you live in Oregon, as do I. Not sure if it’s still going around, but several months back I got the nastiest cold/upper respiratory type illness I’ve had in 10+ years. It probably hit me extra hard because I’m pregnant (husband never got sick at all, nor did my bird), but I was unable to get out of bed sick for about 3 days and still felt miserable for a good 3 more days and once it moved into my lungs on about the second day of being sick, I could not stop coughing for weeks and weeks afterwards. I also had a fever for those first few days, and I haven’t had an illness that caused a fever since I last got the flu in 2009. It was awful. I rarely get sick, so it was surprising how bad whatever that was was.

Not sure about the rest of the state, but I live in the Portland area, and I’ve been hearing lots of coughing and hacking lately while out in the stores (germ mask has been a must for me. I don’t want to get sick again while my immune system is low!). There have been a lot of nasty things going around and illness season has seemed to have struck early this year.

 

[18WheelsOfSteel]

While good medical professionals are amazing, I find that doctors and nurses can often be included in the group containing the absolutely most intolerant group of egotistical and pompous jackarses on planet earth, they share the spot with lawyers, politicians and some ultra wealthy and snobbish people, it is unfortunate, and if they ever treat you that way again feel free to get in touch with the hospitals HR department, coming from a family who has many people in the medical field, they are very likely to take you absolutely seriously as these things can turn into horrifying PR and financial liabilities for the hospital. You should never be made to feel so embarrassed or belittled in relation to your health that you are reduced to tears.

 

[SailBoat]

Just two cents from a grumpy old guy! I have found that being kind really does work! That Said:

There is this class of Humans (which I have found in every wake of life) that have a need to look down on others, commonly to a point of demeaning them. To this group, I have zero problem on walking up into their face and assuring them that their conduct is not acceptable and that I will be happy to join them in their HR office.

Yaaa, I'm not that sweet, but you get the point.

 

[sunshinemama91]

I see you live in Oregon, as do I. Not sure if it’s still going around, but several months back I got the nastiest cold/upper respiratory type illness I’ve had in 10+ years. It probably hit me extra hard because I’m pregnant (husband never got sick at all, nor did my bird), but I was unable to get out of bed sick for about 3 days and still felt miserable for a good 3 more days and once it moved into my lungs on about the second day of being sick, I could not stop coughing for weeks and weeks afterwards. I also had a fever for those first few days, and I haven’t had an illness that caused a fever since I last got the flu in 2009. It was awful. I rarely get sick, so it was surprising how bad whatever that was was.

Not sure about the rest of the state, but I live in the Portland area, and I’ve been hearing lots of coughing and hacking lately while out in the stores (germ mask has been a must for me. I don’t want to get sick again while my immune system is low!). There have been a lot of nasty things going around and illness season has seemed to have struck early this year.

Yes, I hardly leave my house and only have one social media that's less about being social than real social media lol! I had no idea how much sickness was going around until we got SLAMMED. We all have super strong immune systems, usually when everyone gets knocked out for a week, we get sick for a day or never even catch it, even after being plainly exposed. So this one took us by surprise- migraines, spine and joint pain, body aches, high ish fever for 3 days, chills and sweats, nausea, and then the cough that lingers for weeks after. We got laid up for 2 weeks and still arent fully back to normal strength and energy. I havent been that sick since whatever I had took me out for like 3+ months when I was about 9. Just very grateful it didnt last THAT long. And also very grateful it wasn't psittacosis!