Branley J M, Roy B, Dwyer D E, Sorrell T C
Department of Microbiology, Nepean Hospital, Parker St, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia.
Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2008 Apr;27(4):269-73. doi: 10.1007/s10096-007-0431-0. Epub 2008 Jan 9.
We report three cases of psittacosis in staff working in a veterinary surgery, which was related to exposure to a sick, wild psittacine bird. Chlamydial genus- and chlamydial species-specific DNA was detected in clinical specimens, including throat swabs, whole blood and urine. The organism load was quantified by real-time PCR (RT-PCR), which revealed 10(5)-fold more organisms in conjunctival swabs from the source bird than in the human samples. One clinic attendant was infected despite using personal protective equipment when handling the bird. This is the first report of PCR analyses of blood and urine samples being used to diagnose human psittacosis, and the first time that the organism load in humans has been compared to that of the infecting bird.
我们报告了三例在兽医诊所工作的人员感染鹦鹉热的病例，这些病例与接触一只患病的野生鹦鹉有关。在临床标本中检测到衣原体属和衣原体种特异性DNA，这些标本包括咽拭子、全血和尿液。通过实时聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）对病原体载量进行了定量，结果显示，来自源头鸟类的结膜拭子中的病原体数量比人类样本中的多10^5倍。一名诊所工作人员在处理这只鸟时尽管使用了个人防护装备仍被感染。这是首次报告使用血液和尿液样本的PCR分析来诊断人类鹦鹉热，也是首次将人类的病原体载量与感染鸟类的进行比较。
