Psittacosis singer Philip Selway. Lena Rose Pepperdine died in 1930 of parrot fever. She was the first wife of George Pepperdine, the founder of Pepperdine University. Psittacosis Psittacosis—also known as parrot fever, and ornithosis—is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by a bacterium called "Chlamydophila psittaci" and contracted from infected parrots, such as macaws, cockatiels, and budgerigars, and pigeons, sparrows, ducks, hens, gulls and many other species of birds. The incidence of infection in canaries and finches is believed to be lower than in psittacine birds. In certain contexts, the word is used when the disease is carried by any species of
Niemann–Pick disease bone called coxa vara. Sleep-related disorders, such as sleep inversion, sleepiness during the day and wakefulness at night, may occur. Gelastic cataplexy, the sudden loss of muscle tone when the affected patient laughs, is also seen. Mutations in the "SMPD1" gene cause Niemann–Pick disease types A and B. They produce a deficiency in the activity of the lysosomal enzyme acid sphingomyelinase, that breaks down the lipid sphingomyelin. Mutations in "NPC1" or "NPC2" cause Niemann–Pick disease, type C (NPC), which affects a protein used to transport lipids. Type D originally was separated from type C to delineate a group of patients