(sĭt-ă-kō'sĭs )

[Gr. psittakos, parrot, + osis, condition]

A relatively uncommon flulike illness caused byChlamydia psittaci, a microbe that is transmitted to humans from infected birds. It causes an atypical pneumonia with headache, sore throat, fevers and chills, cough, anorexia, muscle aches, and other nonspecific symptoms. It is treated with tetracyclines.SYN: ornithosis; parrot fever.

SEE: Chlamydia.