May 20, 2013
A local pet store is under quarantine Tuesday night because of a possible public health threat.
Discount Pets in Lowndes County near Lake Park has been closed. Georgia agriculture officials are testing birds from the store for psittacosis, a possibly fatal disease for birds.
In rare cases, humans can catch the disease, which causes flu-like symptoms.
"The possibility of infection is there, if people have been exposed to infected birds, and we feel that constitutes a public health threat," says Dr. Lynne Feldman, District Heath Director.
The bird disease is not serious for healthy adults, but could be serious for children or people with immune problems. This store has been decontaminated, and could be allowed to reopen as soon as the bird tests are finished.
