PSITTACOSIS

[psit.ta.co.sis] n [NL, fr. L psittacus] (1897): an infectious disease of birds caused by a bacterium (Chlamydia psittaci), marked by diarrhea and wasting, and transmissible to humans in whom it usu. occurs as an atypical pneumonia accompanied by high fever -- psit.ta.co.tic adj