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Chlamydia

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David's post, copied and pasted from Piggybakers original:

Chlamydia Psittici is zoonotic and can be passed onto humans , i have it I'm my stock at the moment and have had swabbs done via vedra at CCT .
Pigs cannot be moved cos this has to be contained and pregnant women , children and people with compromised immune sytems are at serious risk from it .

All my cavys are having to be PTS today as i have no immune system because of chemotherapy and my life is at risk if i go near them , i dont have anyone who can look after them for me or treat them , they cannot be moved to any other fancier friends as the risk to their pigs would be too great .

This is only being done after much consultation with 4 vets and my oncologist .
To say I'm devastated is an understatment but i have to put my life first .

PIGGY BAKER YOU DID THE RIGHT THING FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY , CAVYS CAN BE REPLACED YOUR CHILDREN CANT .
Dont let anyone try make you feel guilty and try keep your chin up

David xx
 
daftscotslass said:
Found this - http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/chlamydiosis.pdf - is an interesting read.
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Which confirms my thoughts on the other post that the pigs were diagnosed with C. psittaci not C. caviae.

Some of the C. ssp. have certainly been renamed Chlamydophila but I did not mention this in my comments deliberately - it is unhelpful to people trying to find information on the internet as virtually everything is still listed as Chlamydia
What cavy keepers need right now is a lot of information.
 
Juniper, what is the treatment for guineas with Chlamydia? What exactly are the signs? What is the incubation period? Sorry for all the questions. Anything else we should know? Do you know how long the bacteria/virus survives on us after we have handled an infected pig?
 
As piggybaker described, eye infections and respiratory problems.
C. caviae is usually just eye infection. We are only just starting to figure out where its coming from, how it is tranmitted, incubation times etc in the fancy.
Treatment (Vedra's - CCT) is gentamicin. Very expensive and apparently rather toxic to pigs.
Vets will also use doxycycline - much cheaper (and other drugs from the same group).

Problem is isolation/biosecurity.
Also risk of 'healthy carrier' - but would suggest if WHOLE group/shed is healthy they are unlikely to all be carriers (really talking about 'healthy' pigs in an infected group).
Risk to people with compromised immune systems or very young etc. In this case (quoted from a vet) "I advise euthanasia in EXACTLY the same way as I would advise people with young kids/elderly etc and a dangerous dog - morally it's the same thing"
There is a LOT of information on the internet (look up parrot sites). Doxycycline etc. Sorry to be brief... in a hurry to get out.
 
Thanks for that :)

Have just found this info in The Merck Veterinary Manual: Chlamydia

There are more links on the page and its fairly easy to read which has to be a bonus. They recommend treating with Doxy.
 
Please please if you susspect anything in your cavies get them tested ,

We all need to pull together to get rid of this one .

A good friend of mine who really dosnt like cavies has agreed to feed clean out and medicate half a dosen or so of my stock till they are clear of it , so i dont loose them all , I'm still having to PTS around 40 pigs today .

Its heartbreaking and soul destroying but i cant risk my life .

I know we are not supposed to talk about shows on here but if you go to shows and are tempted to buy cavies from sales pens be extra carefull , if you see any with sticky eyes and snotty noses DONT go near them , same with pigs in pet shops .

If you think anyone has a problem please encourage them to get their pigs tested .

If you handle anything with this disease scrub yourself get your clothes straight in the washer before going near any of your other animals .

Please take extra care everyone or you might end up going through what i am at the moment and i wouldnt want anyone to go through this .

David xx
 
as i see your getting treatment from vedra can i ask where u are? would i even be able to help?
 
I'm in Bolton near Manchester .

My friend said he could manage to feed clean and medicate 12 of the pigs for me today and the rest were PTS .

Have the antibiotics here and at the end of the course they will be swabbed again to see if it has cleared up .

David x
 
How are you feeling today David? bet you feel like you're going to wake up soon :(
Thanks again for giving us the heads up.

Hilary x
 
So sorry David... this must be an awful time for you. :'( Ive done a bit of research into Chlamydia before for a 'wildlife rehab' course I was doing - it sounds terrible. My Nan has no immune system because of AM Leukaemia... so I can imagine the heart wrenching decision you faced. You did the right thing though ;)

Thinking of you and the rehomed piggies. I'm sure your other little piggies are having loadsa fun at rainbow bridge

Helen x
 
hils78 said:
How are you feeling today David? bet you feel like you're going to wake up soon :(
Thanks again for giving us the heads up.

Hilary x
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Numb tonight , its just really hitting me now .
 
Can i ask what are the symptoms/implications of humans contracting it?

I too am immunosuppressed & now have poss lung damage (waiting to have a scan)

Can it not be treated with antibiotics the same as in piggies?

Do piggies have to have both conjunctivitis & resp inf. or just one of these?

Are there other symptoms to look out for that point distinctly to chlamydia or does a vet have to do a blood test to determine?
 
karenrgpr said:
Signs in Humans

Take a look at this Niki, it lists all the symptoms a bit further down the page :)
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Thanks for that Karen :)

Well i know i've not been in direct contact with any birds affected or non-affected, am i right in assuming this is the ONLY variant of chlamydia passed to humans?

Does this mean that any animal which may come into contact with infected droppings may also contract this & they too could pass to humans or is it soley passed from birds to humans?

This is getting really confusing. I don't know wether to be concerned for my health or not :-\
 
hi, I can only tell you what I understand, don't take it as right ::) David was concerned for his health because of his guineas so it can be passed via guineas- I am assuming, I can't remember if he said he had other animals and was keeping them seperate or not. I think (think!) it might be passed from other animals too but don't know.

Try not to be too worried, just be prepared, you know about it so if it happens you are already prepared.

No idea if its the only variant, wait for the sciency people :)
 
Animals that can be affected by it are sheep , cats , cavies and rabbits .

David xx
 
karenrgpr said:
No idea if its the only variant,
Click to expand...

I posted some information on the original piggybaker thread but just in case there is any confusion:-

Chlamydia trachomatis is the form common in humans. It is sexually transmitted. It is not transferable to cavies

Chlamydia caviae is the cavy form. It is not transferable to humans. It is transmitted by ordinary contact between cavies or via people who are handling infected cavies and then handling healthy ones. In cavies it usually just causes runny eyes with no other health problems. Please do NOT panic if you vet has diagnosed this in your cavies as this if far less serious, easily treated and no risk to humans (or other pets).

Chlamydia psittaci. This is the 'nasty'. It is the disease 'psittacosis' that traditionally affects parrots (and other birds including pigeons). It is spread by normal contact, in the air (like colds/flu) and can also live for some time in animal droppings.
Sadly THIS is the disease that is now known to be around in cavies. It is 'zoonotic' - this means that it transfers reasonably easily to humans and other animals. This is especially true in the case of people who are either very young, elderly or have a compromised immune system (people who have a poor resistance to diseases because their immune system is damaged by cancer chemotherapy or diseases like HIV or lupus). If YOU are healthy and the cavies can be kept away from young children or anyone else at risk it is possible to treat the cavies.
 
Juniper said:
karenrgpr said:
No idea if its the only variant,
Click to expand...

I posted some information on the original piggybaker thread but just in case there is any confusion:-

Chlamydia trachomatis is the form common in humans. It is sexually transmitted. It is not transferable to cavies

Chlamydia caviae is the cavy form. It is not transferable to humans. It is transmitted by ordinary contact between cavies or via people who are handling infected cavies and then handling healthy ones. In cavies it usually just causes runny eyes with no other health problems. Please do NOT panic if you vet has diagnosed this in your cavies as this if far less serious, easily treated and no risk to humans (or other pets).

Chlamydia psittaci. This is the 'nasty'. It is the disease 'psittacosis' that traditionally affects parrots (and other birds including pigeons). It is spread by normal contact, in the air (like colds/flu) and can also live for some time in animal droppings.
Sadly THIS is the disease that is now known to be around in cavies. It is 'zoonotic' - this means that it transfers reasonably easily to humans and other animals. This is especially true in the case of people who are either very young, elderly or have a compromised immune system (people who have a poor resistance to diseases because their immune system is damaged by cancer chemotherapy or diseases like HIV or lupus). If YOU are healthy and the cavies can be kept away from young children or anyone else at risk it is possible to treat the cavies.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for this, i'm no longer confused or worried :)
 
karenrgpr said:
hi, I can only tell you what I understand, don't take it as right ::) David was concerned for his health because of his guineas so it can be passed via guineas- I am assuming, I can't remember if he said he had other animals and was keeping them seperate or not. I think (think!) it might be passed from other animals too but don't know.

Try not to be too worried, just be prepared, you know about it so if it happens you are already prepared.

No idea if its the only variant, wait for the sciency people :)
Click to expand...
#

Thank you Karen & you're right forewarned is forearmed O0
 
What a worrying thread, but there is some good info here. I'm so sorry that you have to lose so many cavies.
 
I am not going to get involved in this thread because I have never seen a case of Chlamydia in a piggy .

It is apparently fairly rare anyway,and is very unlikely to occur in cavies kept as part of the family,indoors.

I would think that breeders and people in the fancy are the most likely to get this disease in their stock.

I think the majority of us need not worry.
 
I only have 3 pigs and they are kept indoors, but I am worried tonight that is what they all have. They have all become progressively ill, over the last 2 months or so, with exactly the same symptoms - eye problems and cystitis. And one of them has a respiratory problem (has had it on and off for a year though - she has a weakness there). I am taking them to the vets yet again tomorrow to talk to him about chlamydia. :(

This link here talks about cystitis being a symptom
http://www.galensgarden.co.uk/herbivores/health/urinarytract.php

I sincerely hope if it is that, they can be treated, and that I have not passed it to any other animals.
 
Pelicano, do keep us informed. Chlamydia has been 'fairly rare' but this year is around. David told us in another thread this was the first time in 15 years that Vedra has seen it. Thanks for the link.
 
Will do - the weirdest thing about it, if they do have it, is that I can see no easy way that they have picked it up. They don't have contact with other pigs, or birds for that matter. Nor do I, so I don't believe that I can be a carrier. The only thing I can think of is eating infected grass (very possible - they eat a lot of grass).

So I guess the good thing is that I shouldn't have inadvertently spread it around (unless their frequent trips to the vets have spread something, but I would hope that their hygiene is good enough to have prevented that).

I just hope that all my other animals are OK - I already have a problem of E Cuniculi in my rabbits. Am starting to think I'm living in the house of the sick.... :o
 
maryh said:
I am not going to get involved in this thread because I have never seen a case of Chlamydia in a piggy .

It is apparently fairly rare anyway,and is very unlikely to occur in cavies kept as part of the family,indoors.

I would think that breeders and people in the fancy are the most likely to get this disease in their stock.

I think the majority of us need not worry.
Click to expand...

I totally agree............
 
pelicano said:
Will do - the weirdest thing about it, if they do have it, is that I can see no easy way that they have picked it up. They don't have contact with other pigs, or birds for that matter. Nor do I, so I don't believe that I can be a carrier. The only thing I can think of is eating infected grass (very possible - they eat a lot of grass).

So I guess the good thing is that I shouldn't have inadvertently spread it around (unless their frequent trips to the vets have spread something, but I would hope that their hygiene is good enough to have prevented that).

I just hope that all my other animals are OK - I already have a problem of E Cuniculi in my rabbits. Am starting to think I'm living in the house of the sick.... :o
Click to expand...

Shouldn't your piggies be tested for EC first as you have this problem already?
 
EC has been ruled out now - it's been a long road to getting me to now thinking it's chlamydia.
 
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