Armstrong – Table of Contents

simultaneously by several investigators, including himself and Dr. McCoy, was a filter-
passing agent present in the sputum and organs of infected persons, and in the organs and
discharges of infected birds. It was not the bacillus described by Nocard in Paris. The
organism that caused psittacosis appeared to be dispersed through the air easily and the
parrots seemed to give off the discharges in a dry form. Spread was from bird to man.
Person to person spread had not been observed. He established that the extensive series of
recent psittacosis epidemics totaled 850 cases in 14 different countries. More women than
men had the disease. He speculated that the women spent more time in the homes where
the birds were kept as pets and that they did more caring for the birds than the men did.
Of the 167 cases reported in the United States during the 1929 and 1930 epidemics, 105
were women and 62 were men. There were 33 deaths all in persons under 30 years of
age. Discovery of the infectious agent early in the course of Armstrong’s investigation
led to the issuance of the Executive Order (noted previously) that placed limitations and
established regulations on the importation of parrots and “love birds” into the United
States.
The events associated with the psittacosis epidemics and the Hygienic
Laboratory’s dramatic involvement probably helped propel the final enactment of the
legislation to expand the role of the Public Health Service and the Hygienic Laboratory in
the overall responsibility for the Nation’s health. In the latter 1920s, increasing legislative
activism by members of Congress and lobbying efforts by senior Public Health Service
staff finally led to the creation of the National Institute of Health to succeed and assume
the duties and mission of the Hygienic Laboratory. For details of the creation of the
National Institute of Health, consult the excellent exposition by Dr. Victoria A. Harden