# odd question



## nbdyuknow (Apr 10, 2007)

hi,

i have an odd question that now has come up a couple of times in conversations with people. recently, i was talking with a guy who asked me if having a pigeon wasn't dangerous because "you can get mold in your lungs from their droppings." 

now, this guy wasn't a nut, but he claims he had heard "somewhere" that people who have pigeons can get afflicted with mold. i know there are issues with "pigeon dust" with regard to respiratory systems, but i have never heard of "mold." i would've thought he was just confused about "pigeon dust", but he is the SECOND person out of the blue in the last month or so who has asked me the SAME question. coincidence? 

i did an internet search and did not find anything on "mold" and "pigeons." i was just curious if anyone else had ever heard of this or how such a rumor might have gotten started?

thanks,

bill b.


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## shad (Jan 23, 2009)

I have heard of this from my cousin, who is a nurse. She has told me that you can get a lung infection of some sort from wild bird (especially pigeons) poop if it is dried out and becomes powdered (while you are cleaning the loft, etc.). I have been around pigeons for years and have never gotten any sort of illness from them, but if it is a concern, then I would keep an eye out for any type of wild bird that hangs around the loft or yard.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I don't know abut mold, but here is a link for pigeon lung disease.

http://www.healthcentral.com/encyclopedia/408/300.html


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

wearing a dust mask or respirator should help


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

If you do a search here on pneumonitis you will find a number of very informative threads. We have a couple of members who have this condition, and they have to be very careful around their birds.

Terry


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## nbdyuknow (Apr 10, 2007)

thanks, everyone. i just want to re-emphasize: i do not have any troubles (i only have one very spoiled house pigeon), not have i ever heard of anyone having troubles, but it seems like a urban legend or something. pigeons get enough of a bad rap, without things like this.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

The people asking you these questions, Bill, are probably thinking, as has been mentioned, "pigeon" lung disease and pneumonitis. 

Yes, some people are very sensitive and others are not. I've OFTEN wondered if there might be a *blood type connection* with this and other problems!

Our indigenous dust borne lung disease (Valley Fever) can present "moldy" (I think!)

I would hazard (no pun intended) a guess that you will be just fine!

Love, Hugs, Scritches to you and the lovely Sophie from

Shi and Mr. Squeaks


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

Every breath you take will probably contain spores, unless you are using a HEPA -- High Efficiency Particle Air filter.

The pertinent question is how many spores you inhale: whether they are swept upwards out of the trachea and bronchi by _ciliae_ and swallowed and neutralized by gastric juices; whether they stay in the lungs and multiply; or whether they are filtered from you system. Your sensitivity can also factor in. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEPA

You can check out _*aspergillosis*_ and _*histoplasmosis*_ under *mycotic* diseases here:

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/zoonos.htm

I have grown some wonderful very fine "angel-hair" mold from pigeon poops in jars with the lids on. Water droplets condensed on the jar walls. With the lid off, the poops usually dry out. 

Inhaling too much dust (or harmful gas) of an kind can cause lung problems. Dusts such as carbon (coal miner's disease or black lung), baker's yeast, asbestos fibers, et cetera. I have an aunt who developed aspergillosis (probably from house plant soil).

I have a lung disease, so I keep a watch out when I have a pigeon rescue.

I have much, much more info I have gleaned from the web, and from The Merck Manual, and from Taber's Medical Dictionary. Easier for you to research than for me to type it all. 

Pigeons and birds in general are wonderful distributors of seeds, but also of microorganisms, which help us keep our immune systems "up to date."

Some of our PT members have had lung problems, from being in close proximity to or amid (and inhaling) airborne particles from (unspecified, but too many) pigeons for (unspecified, but too long) a period of time, over an (unspecified) time span. One member had an allergic response.

You can rely on your own judgment for what is or is not an excess. BUT NOT ALWAYS. "Common sense" can be difficult to apply to organisms seen individually only or usually with the aid of a microscope.

Last year I read of several animal clinic assistants who died (from parrot-borne disease. I think _psittacosis_, if memory serves me correctly). 

So, it is a serious issue. So is driving a car, and crossing the street.

Larry


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

If you wish to inform yourself of the *most negative* and extreme views concerning pigeons, this website, belonging to the pest control company seems to contain most of it:

http://www.hotfoot.com/articles.html

How much of it is fact and how much fiction? The "facts" are presented such that what *may* occur is *most likely* to occur and is in fact so very common, that most of your neighbors, if not you, are quite likely dead from it, and you, my dear fellow, are at the least probably brain-dead and bed-ridden (my exaggeration, as a _riposte_). 

The "facts" are also presented such that "we" (humans) need to take immediate and necessary action against "them," the enemy {birds, bats, bees, and any other beasts prowling "out there" in "our" home territory. (That is, hotfoot it down to Hotfoot and buy from Hotfoot). 

I believe in the "know thy enemy" approach in a discussion. Similar to the way a lawyer should know everything his opponent can wield against him, before he goes into court.

Better than to stand slack-jawed and wide-eyed while someone pelts you with incontrovertible and rrefutable "facts" from the (disinterested and objective? -- surely not!) "experts."

Larry


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Most people's knowledge about pigeons are probably those they hear on the media. And they don't question whether the facts are true or not. That is a sad thing, but unfortunately true. 

I question everything!

You can get mold anywhere. They are everywhere.


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## giovannini (Mar 2, 2009)

giovannini hear, every one i know wear`s a mask when cleanning the dropping better safe then sorry just stay safe, it seem`s as if at lest everyone`s reply to your odd question that it isent so odd, is it? take care stay safe. n


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## Grimaldy (Feb 25, 2007)

The short answer is Histoplasmosis, a fungus that is found in the soil all over the United States, most predominantly in the Ohio River Valley. It is a fungus that a healthy human being will have no trouble with, but a person with a compromised immune system can expect difficulty.

The exterminators would like you to believe that you only get the disease from bird droppings. Not true.


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## Grimaldy (Feb 25, 2007)

To Giovanni;

Pigeons and doves have a dander which comes off like a fine hard dust that can settle in the lungs and cause respiratory problems. People who are in pigeon lofts and around lots of doves should wear a dust mask for that reason, but that has nothing to do with fungus.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

I'm thinking somewhere along the line someone decided pigeon fancier's lung was caused by mold you get from pigeons 
You know how crazy some people can be with their theories. And if one hears the wrong thing, suddenly everyone hears that same wrong thing and thinks it's right. I hate rumors


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