ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
This article is part of the Research TopicPathogenic Microorganisms and BiosafetyView all 28 articles
Online parrot trade as a source of Psittacosis caused by a novel Chlamydia psittaci ST388
Provisionally accepted
Wenwu YAO1*
Guoxiang Shi2Kai Song1Lingbo Wang2Zhuoying Wu2Qijie Zhao3Zhouwei Chen4Zhifang Kong5
Yajun Song1
Beibei Wu2- 1State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, AMMS, Beijing, China, Beijing, China
- 2Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, China
- 3Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, First Hospital of Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province, Ningbo, China
- 4Hangzhou Digital-Micro Biotech Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, China
- 5Ninghai County Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 369 Xinghai Middle-road, Ninghai county, Ninghai, China
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The direct zoonotic risks associated with the growing online trade of live pets remain in adequately understood. We investigate a human case of severe psittacotic pneumonia in Zhejiang Province, China, in which the patient's only avian exposure was through parrots recently purchased online. Using targeted probe-capture sequencing—a method designed for uncultivable, low-biomass pathogens—we recovered 13 high-quality Chlamydia psittaci genomes directly from the patient, the asymptomatic parrots, and their shared home environment. Comparative genomic analysis revealed >99.99% average nucleotide identity across all samples, providing definitive evidence of parrot-to-human transmission. The causative strain was identified as a novel sequence type (ST388) within the known virulent genotype A. This investigation provides the first whole-genome confirmation of psittacosis transmission via online pet commerce. It establishes a practical genomic framework for investigating similar sporadic zoonoses and underscores the urgent need for targeted surveillance of this emerging and risk communication in this growing digital marketplace.
Keywords: Chlamydia psittaci, e-commerce, Probe-based capture sequencing, Psittacosis, ST388
Received: 29 Dec 2025; Accepted: 27 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 YAO, Shi, Song, Wang, Wu, Zhao, Chen, Kong, Song and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wenwu YAO
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