Chlamydia psittaci Infection in Companion Birds Examined in Florida

Over a two-year period, companion birds, submitted mostly by small-animal practitioners to the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, Kissimmee, Florida, were examined for chlamydia. Chick embryo yolk sac and mouse brain inoculations were used for isolation. Chlamydiae were isolated in 58 (20%) of 287 birds examined. Although twice as many birds were examined in 1980 as in 1979, the percentage of positive isolations was 20% for each year. This suggests a constant level of chlamydial infection in companion birds. Most of the isolations were made in psittacine birds; the only positive isolations in passerine birds were in finches.