Psittacosis!! >:(

[miss lacey loo]

Hi all!
This has probably been asked and answered a million times before, but I'm in my phone and it's awful for searching!!

I have a 6 month old violet IRN. he was diagnosed with psittacosis by my avian vet after a day or 2 of red, irritated eyes. And a week beforehand my husband was in the ER FOR 2 days with pneumonia ( that the doctor suspected was from the birds) anyway.. My irn has been on antibiotics for 45 days and now seems fine and dandy! ( and hubby is fine too) I also have a lutino Irn and gave him antibiotics just incase of infection even though he had no symptoms.
What id like a little advice on is:

Is it actually cured after treatment, or is it likely to stay in his system, flaring up under stressful conditions? I wanted to eventually get him a girlfriend, but is it dangerous to breed from him now?

I disinfected EVERYTHING! floor, curtains he sat on, cage, perches, toys.. EVERYTHING.
So can he catch it again from any feather dust I didn't get? And are any new feathered friends I get at risk?

I'm so worried about my feathered babies getting sick again.. Also I have budgies in my aviary outside, that they have no contact with but I'm even worried about them!! :S
I'm such a worried mother!! Lol

Any advice/ experience would be faaaaantastic!!!

[ellieelectrons]

All I can tell you is that psittacosis is the first thing my avian vet tests my birds for every year. I think your vet will be the best person to answer your questions. You could also try this wikipedia article on psittascosis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacosis

Although there may be some breeders on here with more experience in this area.

Whenever you bring a new bird into your house though, it is recommended that you quarantine it from your other birds. I think the regular quarantine period is 1 month?

Ellie.

[miss lacey loo]

Thankyou Ellie!

They were kept in separate rooms and both from the same reputable breeder- it's why I'm so stumped as to how he picked it up! All I can think of is from him being outside and coming into contact with some contaminated wild bird poo!! Or someone else with birds brought it in.

The vet is a bit strange and answers my questions strangely, so I thought I'd ask people that have experienced it rather than it should be this or should be that...
I think ive read every article on the net about it, but have never seen once mention if it being cured.. Treated yes.. Ugghhh worry worry worry!!

[mattcoffs]

You can get pneumonia from birds??

[ellieelectrons]

I don't think you can get pneumonia from birds but I do believe psittacosis can be particularly nasty for both the bird and the humans who associate with the bird.

Matt - if you don't already do it, you should consider yearly wellness checks for your little guy. The first thing my avian vet does is take a blood sample to check for psittacosis. The reason wellness are important is that quite often by the time you see any visible signs of illness with them it is too late to do anything because birds in nature try to cover any signs of illness so they won't be attacked by predators because they can see that they are weakened with illness.

Realising it's a little far for you but thought I'd mention it any way, I go to the Brisbane Bird Vet http://www.brisbanebirdvet.com.au/. He is really thorough but he is expensive... I almost considered changing vet for the cost but I do trust his abilities so I think I'll stay put.

Ellie.

[Molossus2]

The advice of seeking direction from an avian vet is good. Psittacosis can recur at anytime....if an avian vet cannot tell you much....msg me privately..
A word of caution...if your birds are not sick do not antibiotic them...rather give probiotics and stuff such as grape seed extract/echinacea etc to build immunity...as when your bird is really sick ... Antibiotics may have little or no effect due to previous indiscriminate use..