Prevalence and Risk Factors of Avian Chlamydiosis Detected by Polymerase Chain Reaction in Psittacine Birds in Thailand.

Abstract

This study surveyed avian chlamydiosis, with the aim to estimate the prevalence and potential risk factors associated withinfection in psittacine birds kept as domestic pets in Thailand. Oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 120 psittacine birds that were randomly selected from hospitals in the central (Bangkok) and northeastern regions (Khon Kaen) of Thailand between 2019 and 2021. The oropharyngeal swabs were subject to polymerase chain reaction testing to detect thegene. The prevalence ofwas 2.5% (3/ 120, 95% confidence interval = 0.3-5.3). Of the 3 positive birds, 1 was aparrot (species)(CP43TH) and 1 was an African grey parrot ()(CP49TH) from Bangkok; both were juvenile birds with clinical signs of disease. The third positive bird (CP12TH) was a subclinical adult sun conure () from Khon Kaen. Two sequences of samples that were previously identified in human psittacosis cases (accession numbers MK032053.1 and HM450409.1) were also examined. Since there was a low number of infected birds, potential associations betweeninfection and various environmental variables (eg, cage cleaning, synanthropic birds, quarantine of new birds, and overcrowding) were assessed by Fisher exact tests. This study provides estimates of the prevalence and potential risk factors associated withinfection in psittacine birds from central (Bangkok) and the northeastern regions (Khon Kaen) of Thailand. The detection ofin captive psittacine birds demonstrates that there is a possibility for bird-to-bird transmission as well as some zoonotic potential for the human caretakers of these birds. Furthermore, larger-scale studies should be conducted to confirm these findings.