Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-09
DR.. ARMSTRONG ILL;
FEAR PARROT FEVER
CONTRACTED IN FIGHT

Continued From First Page.l
disease had resulted from the same type
Of bird in the West.
Experts of the Public Health Service
have been banned thus far in their
death-defying efforts to learn the spe-
cific organism responsible Tor psitta-
COSTS. More than 200 cultures have
been obtained from dead and expert
mental birds, but no organism has been
found TO prove the exact cause OF the
disease.
The danger to the scientists lies In
the mysterious nature Of the organism,
so they are unable to guard against
it. Anderson, for example, had taken
every possible precautien in handling
the diseased birds. The organism,
whatever it is, is believed to survive in
the droppingS and in the feathers.
Both cages and the birds themselves
were sprayed with disinfectants to pre-
vent dust containing the organism
arising from them. The BIRDS were
handled skillfully.
AS soon as Anderson was taken sick.
1t was learned yesterday, members ot
the medical Stan of the hygienic lab
oratory, realizing the danger OF caring
for the birds. took over his work.
Effect Of Disease Is Gradual.
The discovery of the specific or
ganism, it was explained, is the neces-
Sary FIRST step both toward accurate
diagnosis and possibly an eventual
specific remedy. Nearly a half CEN
fury ago. when the disease was flrst
reported in Europe, the organism was
! reported isolated, but this has not oeen
borne out by the American workers.
Although it might be mistaken for
| lobar pneumonia, public health experts
explained psittacosis presents in the
beginning quite o different clinical pic
ture. The onset of pneumonia Is sud-
den and Immediately effects the lungs.
The onset of psittacosis is gradual, be-
ing preceded by day or two OF I'M
differentiated indisposition. with nausea,
and then being first noted in the In
testines. Then something closely akin
to lobar pneumonia follows. 1t Is not
known whether 1t is due to the psit-
taeosis organism invading the lungs or
| whether the general resistance Is so low
cred that the path Is cleared for the
pneumonia organism.
In the tight against psittacosis the
hygienic laboratory Is now on the mr.
ing line, as 1t has been with other OBJ
scure and fatal diseases which have
appeared in the United States-the
workers taking personal risks with them
before they know their exact nature or
what precaution to take. AS result,
the laboratory has contributed more
than its share of martyrs to science.
Practically every person who has worked
with tuleramia, the organism of which
passes to humans from rabbits, has
| been i'll of the disease. Several have
| contracted undulant fever and Rocky
| Mountain spotted fever took It's victims
among them.
Anderson was one of the humber
workers in the ranks of medical science,
but he fully appreciated the dangers ia
which he was exposing himself.
Baltimore Workers Aid Fight.
Working should to shoulder with the
hygienic laboratory has been the city
health department Of Baltimore, In
which city there have been several
cases of parrot fever since its FIRST
American appearance in Annapolis q
| mQrFE ago. As q result, DR.. Stokes OF
t1Snt ofhCe lies at the point of death
Or. Hf~sAuiel Hatfield, chief of the Balti-
more buf@au Of communicable diseases
also fell sick of psittacosis, but Is re-
| ported greatly improved.
At present, it was explained at the
Public Health Service, there is little
medical science can do for the parrot
fever victim except to keep pain at q
minimum, try to build up the general
resistance of the body and wait for
nature to cure. Eventually the body
builds up its own resistance, but the
course Of the disease is long and drag
ging, unlike lobar pneumonia, where
there Is rapid sinking which, II II
does not end In death, brings crisis
after which recovery is rapid. Parrot
fever has somewhat the same pattern,
but the crisis is not sharply marked.
There is no evidence, public health
officials say, in the present American
outbreak that the disease is COM
municable from one person to another
| although some such cases have been
claimed in other outbreaks. All the
| American victims have been in contact
| with sick parrots. 1t Is known that
the disease passes from parrot to par
rot. The parrots seem to have built up
a better resistance than human beings
a fact which renders experimental work
difhcult. Quick diagnosis demands that
the medical man know the responsible
| organism. Otherwise there may DC
| much delay and confusion.
| The death of Anderson followed an
illness of two weeks which followed the
general clinical picture of psittacosis
He was first taken sick nine days after
he began to care for the parrots. He
continued at work for two days before
he was confined to his bed. Friday
afternoon his life wis dispaired of, but
| he rallied after administration of oxy-
gen only to suffer another relapse which
ended in death yesterday morning.
|