Is S. pneumoniae zoonotic?

[hypervalent_iodine]

As per the title. I searched Google and Google scholar briefly, but I was unable to find anything conclusive. I came across some people on another forum who claimed that it absolutely was, but I am not completely convinced.

[Function]

It was identified in Wistar and Sprague-Dawley laboratory rats in '69:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4388727

 

However, multiple sources to identify the S. pneumoniae as a human-specific Streptococcus.

E.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26095827

 

Yet ...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24517022

 

And then there's the primates

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23505710

 

So I think it might be zoonotic, but that it's not as close as interesting for it to act zoonotic as if it were solely humane.

Edited January 12, 2017 by Function

[CharonY]

I am not sure what the Streptococcus community thinks (my guess is it depends who you ask), but most consider it a potential zoonotic disease. However, current lit. indicates that it is far more common in humans, which makes a reverse zoonotic transmission more likely, if at all.

Edited January 12, 2017 by CharonY

[hypervalent_iodine]

Thanks to both of you, your posts were very helpful.

 

I am not sure what the Streptococcus community thinks (my guess is it depends who you ask), but most consider it a potential zoonotic disease. However, current lit. indicates that it is far more common in humans, which makes a reverse zoonotic transmission more likely, if at all.

 

The discussion that prompted this was actually about a parrot that had tested positive for an S. pneumoniae infection. The owner of said parrot mentioned that she had been quite sick, with persistent symptoms for some time (after the bird's symptoms began). She thus concluded that she might have become infected with the same thing, presumably via her bird, and is pushing her doctor to get tested for it. This seemed (and still sort of does seem) pretty unlikely to me, but I wasn't sure exactly if my instincts on that front were correct. It is complicated by the fact that research into parrot diseases and the like is pretty sparse. Most of what we know and rely on about their care as pets comes from research into chickens, which is not super reliable.

[CharonY]

I am not sure why it would matter, as one would test the owner directily for the infection. Also, assuming the parrot is not outside for extented period, the likelihood is still that the owner either caught the infection elsewhere, or, even more likely, got the immune system somehow compromised allowing a the Streptococci to turn pathogenic.

 

Edit: seems I misunderstood the timeline. I assume the bird showed symptoms first and is confirmed to be a Streptococus infection? And it is certain that it is specifically S. pneumoniae?

Edited January 12, 2017 by CharonY

[hypervalent_iodine]

I am not sure why it would matter, as one would test the owner directily for the infection. Also, assuming the parrot is not outside for extented period, the likelihood is still that the owner either caught the infection elsewhere, or, even more likely, got the immune system somehow compromised allowing a the Streptococci to turn pathogenic.

 

Edit: seems I misunderstood the timeline. I assume the bird showed symptoms first and is confirmed to be a Streptococus infection? And it is certain that it is specifically S. pneumoniae?

The bird was sick first, yes. As far as I know, their vet is positive it is Streptococcus pneumoniae. I believe they did culture tests of some sort from a crop swab. It doesn't really matter, and I think the person in question is getting tested, I was more just curious to know if it were possible to catch said infection from a parrot (or other animal). She seemed absolutely positive that you could. I wasn't so sure, and to date she has been extremely evasive when I've asked for where her information came from.

 

I know that there are other infectious diseases that you can get from parrots, the big one being psittacosis (from Chlamydia psittaci), but I had thought this was a pretty unique case.

[Function]

I was more just curious to know if it were possible to catch said infection from a parrot (or other animal). She seemed absolutely positive that you could. I wasn't so sure, and to date she has been extremely evasive when I've asked for where her information came from.

 

Imho, you could indeed adopt the bacterium from the parrot. That's something totally different from allowing it to colonize, let alone infect, actually. S. pneumoniae is part of the commensal flora in your nasopharynx and causes no harm in most cases, though is a professional invader and one of the three most important causes of airway infections (this one and H. influenzae are also quite infamous for meningitis), along with Moraxella catarrhalis and Haemophilus influenzae (infernal trio)... But as long as there's no opportunity for them to really infect you, there's no opportunity to get sick from them so ... infection from a parrot? No, unles you give it good conditions to.

 

Oh and btw, the pneumococcus is transmissioned by droplets, so unless you actively collect parrot saliva or snot (do parrots sneeze?), don't worry.

Edited January 12, 2017 by Function

[hypervalent_iodine]

Imho, you could indeed adopt the bacterium from the parrot. That's something totally different from allowing it to colonize, let alone infect, actually. S. pneumoniae is part of the commensal flora in your nasopharynx and causes no harm in most cases, though is a professional invader and one of the three most important casues of airway infections (this one and H. influenzae are also quite infamous for meningitis), along with Moraxella catarrhalis and Haemophilus influenzae (infernal trio)... But as long as there's no opportunity for them to really infect you, there's no opportunity to get sick from them so ... infection from a parrot? No, unles you give it good conditions to.

 

Oh and btw, the pneumococcus is transmissioned by droplets, so unless you actively collect parrot saliva or snot (do parrots sneeze?), don't worry.

That's sort of what I thought. And yes, parrots do sneeze! It's actually kind of cute.

[StringJunky]

Charles River Labs, in their PDF on the disease, says zoonotic transmission is possible. It is prevalent in guinea pigs, rats and mice.

 

sp2.pdf