Psittacosis is an uncommon infectious disease that is most often transmitted to humans through exposure to infected birds, especially parrots, cockatiels, parakeets and similar pet birds. Psittacosis can affect the lungs and may cause inflammatory illness of the lungs (pneumonia). Additional common symptoms include fever, muscle pain (myalgia), headaches, and a dry cough. Psittacosis is caused by infection with the bacterium, Chlamydia psittaci, and may also be known as ornithosis. It is rare among humans. People who own birds as pets are most likely to be affected by psittacosis.
Prior to the October 2013 eruption, the last notable eruption from Mount Etna was in 1992. In total, there are about 3 active volcanoes in Italy that spew lava intermittently: The Vesuvius volcano close to Naples, Stromboli and Mount Etna in Sicily.
Many of the world's active volcanoes are located around the edges of the Pacific Ocean: the West Coast of the Americas; the East Coast of Siberia, Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia; and in island chains from New Guinea to New Zealand--the so-called Ring of Fire (diagram to left).ecently, active volcanoes were also found in Iceland, the Kenya Rift Valley in Eastern Africa, Italy, and Hawaii. Looking at the locations of these volcanoes through the glasses of plate tectonics, we also notice that most volcanoes occur near the edges of the large plates that comprise the solid surface of Earth.