# Touched a diseased pigeon



## kassidy (Jan 4, 2018)

Hello,

I don't know anything about pigeons or birds generally. But I don't know where else could I ask.

I found a pigeon on the street, it was lying down on the ground, on its belly. It had one leg in a weird position, it looked broken. It didn't move at all. So I thought maybe it had broken wing also.

The pigeon didn't look like it was diseased or dying or anything. But the pigeon was very calm, not afraid at all. Even after I took it into my hands, it didn't look scared.

I took it to vet. He checked on the pigeon, and he found out that it had some disease.

The pigeon had a lot of missing feathers on its chest (able to be seen only after the vet turned the pigeon on its side). And its skin where the feathers were missing was all red, irritated and obviously diseased.

Do you have any idea what could it be?
Could I catch something from it? I definitely touched the diseased area when I carried it. I didn't have any gloves I could use or anything, so I carried it in bare hands.

It happened a while back already, but it still bothers me. I didn't feel sick or anything.

But maybe I could have got some internal parasites like those worms you can get from badly cooked meat?
I washed my hands (but you can never wash your hands 100% good, right?) And I also threw my T-Shirt into the washing machine and washed it on regular temperature (because higher temps would destroy the shirt anyway). Still I heard eggs of parasites can survive very high and very low temperatures.
I read that all kinds of birds usually have some internal worms...

Also I heard It can transmit E. Coli.

By the way I am from Middle Europe if this makes any difference.

Thank you for the answers.


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## Silverwings (Oct 27, 2017)

*You'll Probably Be OK*

I don't think anything will happen to you, as long as you washed your hands good. Also, some diseases are pigeon-specific, or have different but often lesser effects on humans. Just to be safe, you may want to quarantine the shirt for a day or two, because parasites cannot survive without their hosts, and it could potentially kill them. You may want to do some parasite research concerning pigeons and the proper safety measures to handle them, because that can tell you a lot. In the end, you will probably be fine, as long as you wash your hands.


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

You won't get internal parasites from just handing a sick pigeon.

Like Silverwings said, wash hands. In fact, normal hygiene should be practised when handling _any_ sick bird or animal.

There's really only one illness that puts humans at a risk, albeit low risk. That is Chlamydiosis. I recall seeing one (and only one) report of this happening - 20 years ago - with someone who definitely did _not_ bother with hygiene precautions.

E.coli, Salmonella strains - we already have those in our own systems at low levels!


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