‘Parrot disease’ outbreak causes 5 deaths in Europe: what is psittacosis? And how serious is the situation? | Health

Five European countries raised the alarm last month through the European Union’s Early Warning and Response System. The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Denmark have seen an increase in the number of patients with ‘psittacosis’, also known as parrot disease, since the end of 2023. This is reported by the World Health Organization. Five people have already died from the disease. But what is psittacosis? How do you get it? And how serious is the situation? HLN Science expert Martijn Peters explains.