A mysterious outbreak of chlamydia, a bacterial infection which humans pass to each other through sex, is believed to be behind the death of a dozen penguins at the San Francisco Zoo.
The illness turned the zoo's Magellanic penguin colony into a disease hot spot, sparking fatal respiratory distress and kidney failure that struck down 12 of the birds.
But the illness that struck down the zoo's "Penguin Island" was not thought to have been sexually transmitted, officials said. "We suspect it could have something to do with the gulls and their droppings but it could have been something else," zoo spokeswoman Nancy Chan said.
The illness turned the zoo's Magellanic penguin colony into a disease hot spot, sparking fatal respiratory distress and kidney failure that struck down 12 of the birds.
But the illness that struck down the zoo's "Penguin Island" was not thought to have been sexually transmitted, officials said. "We suspect it could have something to do with the gulls and their droppings but it could have been something else," zoo spokeswoman Nancy Chan said.
