Psittacosis outbreak in Tayside, Scotland, December 2011 to February 2012

Abstract

A Tayside outbreak of psittacosis December 2011-February 2012 involved three confirmed and one probable cases. Confirmed cases were indistinguishable by sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products. The epidemiological pattern suggested person-to-person spread as illness onset dates were consistent with the incubation period and no single common exposure could explain the infections. In particular the only common exposure for a healthcare worker case is overlap in place and time with the symptomatic index case.