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

This study surveyed avian chlamydiosis, with the aim to estimate the prevalence and potential risk factors associated with infection 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 the gene. The prevalence of was 2.5% (3/ 120, 95% confidence interval = 0.3-5.3). Of the 3 positive birds, 1 was a parrot ( 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 between infection 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 with infection in psittacine birds from central (Bangkok) and the northeastern regions (Khon Kaen) of Thailand. The detection of in 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.