Chlamydia psittaci in fulmars on the Faroe Islands: a causative link to South American psittacines eight decades after a severe epidemic

Helen Wang; Jens-Kjeld Jensen; Anna Olsson; Fabien Vorimore; Rachid  Aaziz; Lionel Guy; Patrik Ellstrom; Karine Laroucau; Bjorn  Herrmann

Chlamydia psittaci in fulmars on the Faroe Islands: a causative link to South American psittacines eight decades after a severe epidemic

Helen Wang, Jens-Kjeld Jensen, Anna Olsson, Fabien Vorimore, Rachid Aaziz, Lionel Guy, Patrik Ellstrom, Karine Laroucau, Bjorn Herrmann

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

10 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A psittacosis epidemic linked to fulmar hunting occurred on the Faroe Islands in the 1930s. This study investigates a plausible explanation to the 20% human mortality in this outbreak. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Chlamydia psittaci isolated from fulmars were closely related to the highly virulent 6BC
strains from psittacines and are compatible with an acquisition by fulmars of an ancestor of the 6BC clade in the 1930s. This supports the hypothesis that the outbreak on the Faroe Islands started after naïve fulmars acquired C. psittaci from infected dead parrots thrown overboard when shipped to Europe in the 1930s.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	356-359
Number of pages	3
Journal	Microbes and Infection : A Journal on Infectious Agents and Host Defenses
Volume	22
Publication status	Published - 2020
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Chlamydia psittaci
Fulmar
Psittacosis
Avian chlamydiosis
The Faroe Islands

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

Wang, H et al Chlamydia psittaci in fulmars on the Faroe IslandsFinal published version, 751 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{2b1c2713a2f941b9be3dd91c9f353622,

title = "Chlamydia psittaci in fulmars on the Faroe Islands: a causative link to South American psittacines eight decades after a severe epidemic",

abstract = "A psittacosis epidemic linked to fulmar hunting occurred on the Faroe Islands in the 1930s. This study investigates a plausible explanation to the 20% human mortality in this outbreak. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Chlamydia psittaci isolated from fulmars were closely related to the highly virulent 6BCstrains from psittacines and are compatible with an acquisition by fulmars of an ancestor of the 6BC clade in the 1930s. This supports the hypothesis that the outbreak on the Faroe Islands started after na{\"i}ve fulmars acquired C. psittaci from infected dead parrots thrown overboard when shipped to Europe in the 1930s.",

keywords = "Chlamydia psittaci, Fulmar, Psittacosis, Avian chlamydiosis, The Faroe Islands",

author = "Helen Wang and Jens-Kjeld Jensen and Anna Olsson and Fabien Vorimore and Rachid Aaziz and Lionel Guy and Patrik Ellstrom and Karine Laroucau and Bjorn Herrmann",

note = "Short communication",

year = "2020",

language = "English",

volume = "22",

pages = "356--359",

journal = "Microbes and Infection : A Journal on Infectious Agents and Host Defenses",

issn = "1286-4579",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Chlamydia psittaci in fulmars on the Faroe Islands

T2 - a causative link to South American psittacines eight decades after a severe epidemic

AU - Wang, Helen

AU - Jensen, Jens-Kjeld

AU - Olsson, Anna

AU - Vorimore, Fabien

AU - Aaziz, Rachid

AU - Guy, Lionel

AU - Ellstrom, Patrik

AU - Laroucau, Karine

AU - Herrmann, Bjorn

N1 - Short communication

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - A psittacosis epidemic linked to fulmar hunting occurred on the Faroe Islands in the 1930s. This study investigates a plausible explanation to the 20% human mortality in this outbreak. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Chlamydia psittaci isolated from fulmars were closely related to the highly virulent 6BCstrains from psittacines and are compatible with an acquisition by fulmars of an ancestor of the 6BC clade in the 1930s. This supports the hypothesis that the outbreak on the Faroe Islands started after naïve fulmars acquired C. psittaci from infected dead parrots thrown overboard when shipped to Europe in the 1930s.

AB - A psittacosis epidemic linked to fulmar hunting occurred on the Faroe Islands in the 1930s. This study investigates a plausible explanation to the 20% human mortality in this outbreak. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Chlamydia psittaci isolated from fulmars were closely related to the highly virulent 6BCstrains from psittacines and are compatible with an acquisition by fulmars of an ancestor of the 6BC clade in the 1930s. This supports the hypothesis that the outbreak on the Faroe Islands started after naïve fulmars acquired C. psittaci from infected dead parrots thrown overboard when shipped to Europe in the 1930s.

KW - Chlamydia psittaci

KW - Fulmar

KW - Psittacosis

KW - Avian chlamydiosis

KW - The Faroe Islands

M3 - Article

SN - 1286-4579

VL - 22

SP - 356

EP - 359

JO - Microbes and Infection : A Journal on Infectious Agents and Host Defenses

JF - Microbes and Infection : A Journal on Infectious Agents and Host Defenses

ER -

Chlamydia psittaci in fulmars on the Faroe Islands: a causative link to South American psittacines eight decades after a severe epidemic

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this