Neurological Presentation of Psittacosis During a Small Outbreak in Leicestershire

The document described a 49-year-old woman who exhibited neurological symptoms as part of a psittacosis outbreak in Leicestershire. She developed a range of symptoms including a dry cough, headache, fever, anorexia, pleuritic chest pain, hallucinations, and confusion after exposure to birds from her husband's pet shop. Despite initial normal blood and cerebrospinal fluid tests, she was diagnosed with psittacosis based on elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, chest radiography results, and a significant rise in serum complement fixation titre from less than 1/8 to 1/256 over seven weeks. Her condition improved after treatment with tetracycline. The case underscored the need to consider psittacosis in differential diagnosis for patients with atypical symptoms and bird contact, and suggested that early negative serological tests should not rule out the disease. The document also mentioned the reintroduction of quarantine measures for imported birds to control disease transmission.