Psittacosis 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 birds belonging to the family Psittacidae, whereas "ornithosis" is used when other birds carry the disease. In humans, after an incubation period of 5–19 days,
White pox disease White pox disease White pox disease (also "acroporid serratiosis" and "patchy necrosis"), first noted in 1996 on coral reefs near the Florida keys, is a coral disease affecting Elkhorn coral ("Acropora palmata") throughout the Caribbean. It causes irregular white patches or blotches on the coral that result from the loss of coral tissue. These patches distinguish white pox disease from white band disease which produces a distinctive white band where the coral skeleton has been denuded. The blotches caused by this disease are also clearly differentiated from coral bleaching and scars caused by coral-eating snails. It is very contagious, spreading