Rare Bird Disease Proves Deadly
Toledo, Ohio - http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg
A little girl loses her life to a rare strain of disease brought into the home by a pet bird purchased on street corner.
Avian flu is one of several known illnesses carried by birds. One local woman says her daughter died of a bacteria infection rhat she caught from the family pet.
"Parrot fever" is an extremely rare form of bacterial pneumonia. So rare, in fact, doctors did not diagnose one girl with "parrot fever" until it was too late. Her mother says, "They couldn t figure out for a long time what was wrong with her. They knew it was pneumonia of some sort; they just couldn't figure out what."
Marie Devers keeps photographs of her daughter, Tashia, close by. They're reminders of a young Toledo girl who died of an extremely rare bird disease. In 1991, Tashia was four years old. Devers says her daughter came down with a cold that got worse and worse and eventually got the best of her. The coroner, according to Devers, identified cause of death as "avian acquired chlamydial pneumonia." It's a bacterial infection otherwise known as "parrot fever," transmitted from birds.
"Birds migrate and they move around a lot and they're outsid all the time." Dr. Bob Esplin of Sylvania veterinary hospital says you can lump parrot fever in with other strange diseases carried by birds, such as avian flu and West Nile virus. The difference is that parrot fever is a bacterial infection, not a virus. It's also treatable if properly diagnosed. Esplin says, "If you know the source of the bird. If you know where it came from. If it came from a healthy breeder, then there's not as much of a problem. If you don't know the source of the bird, then there may be more of a problem on the transmission of any of these diseases."
That's where Devers says she made a deadly mistake. She had bought a cockatiel off a Toledo-area street corner. Since her daughter's death, Devers says she has never brought another bird into her house.
Keep in mind, parrot fever is so rare, the Centers for Disease Control recorded around 800 cases over a ten-year period. It's also seldom fatal. A bird with parrot fever would act like it had a flu and even the bird can get a simple test and treatment.
A little girl loses her life to a rare strain of disease brought into the home by a pet bird purchased on street corner.
Avian flu is one of several known illnesses carried by birds. One local woman says her daughter died of a bacteria infection rhat she caught from the family pet.
"Parrot fever" is an extremely rare form of bacterial pneumonia. So rare, in fact, doctors did not diagnose one girl with "parrot fever" until it was too late. Her mother says, "They couldn t figure out for a long time what was wrong with her. They knew it was pneumonia of some sort; they just couldn't figure out what."
Marie Devers keeps photographs of her daughter, Tashia, close by. They're reminders of a young Toledo girl who died of an extremely rare bird disease. In 1991, Tashia was four years old. Devers says her daughter came down with a cold that got worse and worse and eventually got the best of her. The coroner, according to Devers, identified cause of death as "avian acquired chlamydial pneumonia." It's a bacterial infection otherwise known as "parrot fever," transmitted from birds.
"Birds migrate and they move around a lot and they're outsid all the time." Dr. Bob Esplin of Sylvania veterinary hospital says you can lump parrot fever in with other strange diseases carried by birds, such as avian flu and West Nile virus. The difference is that parrot fever is a bacterial infection, not a virus. It's also treatable if properly diagnosed. Esplin says, "If you know the source of the bird. If you know where it came from. If it came from a healthy breeder, then there's not as much of a problem. If you don't know the source of the bird, then there may be more of a problem on the transmission of any of these diseases."
That's where Devers says she made a deadly mistake. She had bought a cockatiel off a Toledo-area street corner. Since her daughter's death, Devers says she has never brought another bird into her house.
Keep in mind, parrot fever is so rare, the Centers for Disease Control recorded around 800 cases over a ten-year period. It's also seldom fatal. A bird with parrot fever would act like it had a flu and even the bird can get a simple test and treatment.
posted by John | 11:53 AM
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