London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hendon 1961
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hendon]
This page requires JavaScript
SINGLE CASES
| AGENT | No. of cases | Total No. of cases | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notified | Otherwise ascertained | ||
| Agent identified: | |||
| Salmonella Typhi-Murium | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Salmonella Typhi-Murium Phage Type 2c | 3 | - | 3 |
| Salmonella Typhi-Murium Phage Type 1A Var.l | 3 | - | 3 |
| Salmonella Blockley | 1 | 1 | |
| Salmonella Bahati | 1 | - | 1 |
| Salmonella St. Paul | 1 | - | 1 |
| TOTALS | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| Agent not identified | 9 | 3 | 12 |
PSITTACOSIS
Psittacosis is a disease of several breeds of birds, such as parrots, budgerigars
and fulmar petrels. Occasionally man is infected by a diseased bird.
A suspected case of human psittacosis was reported in a man who had been bitten
by a green Amazon parrot. The patient developed a virus pneumonia and made an
uneventful recovery. The parrot subsequently died and a postmortem confirmed that the
cause of death was psittacosis. A second human case, a contact of the same parrot,
was reported from Essex and he, too, made an uneventful recovery.
This disease has at times a 20% mortality rate and is especially dangerous to
those who have to deal with a diseased bird. The disease has become relatively rare
now that the importation of parrots is controlled by the Parrots and Miscellaneous
Birds (Prohibition of Importation) Order, 1953, which restricts the importation of
certain birds - including parrots - except under licence.
26