Often, homeowners call pest control when they spot a rat running in their basement, or cockroaches crawling in the sink cabinet, or signs of termite damage. But they will ignore the pigeons infestation outside their house.
Pigeons are known to carry and spread diseases through their droppings. They harbor different parasites and infectious diseases with them. Their feathers can also trigger asthma and other respiratory problems. The easiest and prominent way in which they can spread diseases is through contamination of food and water sources. The indirect way is through their droppings.
Human Diseases Associated with Pigeon Droppings
The germs and bacteria from their drying feces can easily enter your house’s vents and air ducts and settle anywhere, including on the water and food. This can result in severe food poisoning, depending upon the person’s immunity, through the salmonella infection.
Histoplasmosis
Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by a fungus called Histoplasma. It’s present particularly in the soil, which contains huge amounts of bird droppings that eventually become part of the air and environment. People get histoplasmosis after inhaling the fungal spores present in the air. Not all people get sick through this, but for those with weak immune systems, such as the elderly, the infection can become severe.
Cryptococcosis
Also present in soil contaminated by pigeon droppings, cryptococcosis infection can directly infect the lungs. Some symptoms of cryptococcosis include but are not limited to pneumonia, skin lesions, and meningitis. Although healthy humans can’t get infected by this even at high exposure levels, a compromised immune system, however, may be prone to be infected by this disease.
Psittacosis
Also known as parrot fever, people can catch psittacosis by handling and/or breathing in the dried particles of a sick pigeon’s urine and feces or other excretions. Since these contain harmful bacteria, the disease may cause inflammation of some organs in the body in rare cases. Symptoms of this include dry cough, fever, muscle ache, and sometimes pneumonia.
If you see any kind of symptoms mentioned, it’s time you or your child get a doctor’s checkup. To make sure you’re not exposed to such a situation and you need bird droppings removed from your property, hire our pigeon cleanup service. Our professional team at Bird’s Window & Gutter Cleaning provides quick, convenient, and affordable pest bird abatement services in Modesto, CA.