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4 Diseases You Can Catch From Pigeons 1 Medicine Report 2/16/16 10:14 AM <br />A rehiveo J Liu;;s Fa s <br />Mecfiane <br />latiest rvicciicirie news, <br />:drug ;zcaii5 and homeopathic <br />roma.eies <br />This domain is for salel <br />Click hereto purchase this <br />domain or other domains in the <br />Klat network. <br />This site is part of the Klat network o1 <br />blogs, forums, and communities. <br />I Search <br />Ard1 ebymonth <br />Recent Posts <br />Zika viers explodes in North <br />�`[�.{��$,� and South America <br />Deja Vu may be a failure of <br />memory access <br />Holiday health risks <br />Antibiotics may soon be over <br />. <br />Champagne can help prevent <br />dementia <br />No California Dungeness <br />crab for now <br />I Do Cobroran and Nyloxin <br />really work? <br />F � <br />If you get the flu, ignore <br />t 379 Gwyneth Paltrow's advice <br />Selena Gomez reveals her <br />struggle with lupus <br />NYC is having trouble <br />controlling Legionnaire's <br />disease <br />Pill pnces out of control <br />r<nmm1.,in <br />J Ls j In I Create GC+ <br />4 Diseases You Can Catch From Pigeons <br />By erika 1425/11 12:56pm i 0 Comments <br />When 1 worked in downtown Seattle, I made a morbid hobby out of collecting information on diseases you can catch from pigeons. I <br />understand why people might like pigeons and want to feed them. There is precious little animal interaction in the city, and if you don' <br />(or can't) have a dog or cat, then the city pigeons may well be your only connection with animals. And they are just so very willing to be <br />fed and entertained. <br />Unfortunately, pigeons carry a surprisingly large number of diseases that are transmissible to humans (called "zoonoses"). And they <br />have few effective predators, which means that their numbers are fearsome indeed. We probably won't be rid of the ubiquitous pigeon <br />any time soon, no matter how many peregrine falcons make the rooftops of our skyscrapers their home. <br />The primary means oftransmission is through the droppings. The infected pigeon's droppings have the infection vector in them (be it . <br />virus or a bacteria). When these droppings dry, they become powdered and float up into the air as dust, kicked up by passing feet. You <br />inhale the pigeon dropping dust and bingo: pigeon disease. <br />1. Cryptococcal Meningitis <br />I was reminded of my former pigeon disease tracldng hobby when I read this heartbreaking article in the Canadian newspaper The <br />Globe and Mail, about a woman who contracted an extremely virulent and dangerous form of pigeon -borne meningitis. <br />She came down with a terrible migraine, then she was hospitalized, fell into a coma for several days, and woke up blind. Richards was <br />lucky to be 23, young and strong and fit. Anyone in lesser health would likely have died. <br />2. Salmonella and Listeria <br />We think of these as being food -borne illnesses. But the salmonella and listeria bacteria are also carried by pigeons. These diseases are <br />no joke: listeria is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and babies, as it can cause "meningitis in newborns, abortions, <br />premature delivery, stillbirths, and death." <br />3. Viral Encephalitis <br />Pigeons are one of the primary reservoirs of West Nile virus, Western Equine Encephalomyelitis, and St. Louis Encephalitis. These <br />variable diseases can cause anything from temporary illness to permanent nervous system damage or death. They are particularly <br />dangerous to children and the elderly, where they frequently prove fatal. <br />The transmission vector in the case of these diseases is the mosquito.A mosquito bites an infected bad, then bites a person. As it bites <br />it backwashes the infected bird's blood into your blood stream. Mosquitoes definitely deserve a whole 'nother level of loathing, as <br />mosquito -borne diseases account for a staggering number of human deaths worldwide. <br />4. E. Coli <br />If you are worried about e. coli infections from -under -cooked meat, you should also be washing your hands whenever you spend time i <br />a pigeon -rich environment. <br />Pigeons are extremely effective transmitters of e. coli to humans. It's impossible to say how many e. coli infections in city -dwellers <br />actually stem from accidental contact with pigeon droppings. How many people have written offthe last restaurant they ate at, when a <br />pigeon was the real culprit? <br />Photo credit: Flickr/Danko :) <br />< Previous post: <br />Home Next Post: > <br />The Mystery ()Mlle ne Nut Mouth Here Conte the Superbug: <br />http://medicinereport.com/article/4-diseases-you-can-catch-from-pigeons Page 1 of 3 <br />