Psittacosis outbreak in Tayside, Scotland, December 2011 to February 2012

A Tayside outbreak of psittacosis December 2011–February 2012 involved three confirmed and one probable cases. Confirmed cases were indistinguishable by sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products. The epidemiological pattern suggested person-to-person spread as illness onset dates were consistent with the incubation period and no single common exposure could explain the infections. In particular the only common exposure for a healthcare worker case is overlap in place and time with the symptomatic index case.