Health effects from birds to humans?

[blah006]

My boyfriend has told me this story that came from his mother (that came from HER mother) that the bird feces can contain toxic fumes that should not be inhaled for long periods of time by humans (i.e. overnight for extended periods). He's not entirely certain about this, but his mother had stated that her mother had gotten sick from something of that nature.

I currently have my macaw living in his cage inside my room. I was wondering if I should be worried about any longterm effects to MY health?

Thanks,
Jan

[sleslie]

I've never heard of such a thing. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. I definately won't!!

[Monica]

You should probably worry... IF you never cleaned the cages! If the cage is kept clean, and things are kept disinfected, there should be no worries!

[Lisa B]

no, it is not a worry. keep your birds cage clean for the both of your health, but if you do that, you wont have a problem....

i remember a long time ago with the bird keepers lung issue and the news running wild stories of people getting sick. I had birds dropped off at my house in the middle of the night, as well as many pet stores and shelters having the same problem. Well I contacted the news who reported this and asked for the proof of thier reports. As usual, they were trying to make it dramatic, and forgot to list the other issue, and the main issue of bird keepers lung. Seems 100% of the people who were in the study, after many years of keeping birds developed this "new" health issue.....ohhhhhhhhh...and the 100% of the people in the study, were heavy SMOKERS over thier lifetime!!!!
so according to the initial report, I should have been dead over 23 years ago because I live with birds....good thing I dont smoke, EH?

[Alyce Johnson]

There is a well known medical condition that you can get while pregnant if you inhale chicken manure on a reglar basis (it's either chix or turkey - I forget). But it affects the fetus, not the mom. Anyway, it's not a good idea at all for a pregnant woman to be shoveling bird poop, would be my thought. But this info comes out of the poultry industry - where the poop levels are presumably way higher than in your bedroom!

However, any amount of poop will mold, and in my own climate, it will do so over night (24 hrs or less). So I change out the papers at least once a day, and always right before I go to bed. You dont want to be breathing mold spores all night long, and you really dont want your bird breathing them either. (Also check the cage edges for moldy bits of food that got damp.) Mold starts awhile before you can actually see it, so it's probably a good idea to err on the side of caution, if you live in a damp climate at all.

[sleslie]

I think she talking about parrot poop. I have also found articles about species of birds in the artic with toxic poop, but that comes from eating fish with DDT, mercury and other chemical pollution. We are very careful what we feed our birds. I am sure if there was a concern it would be well documented in every book and internet site around the world.
See:
http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2005/07/15/2/

[yehudasf]

Originally Posted by ALYCE JOHNSON

There is a well known medical condition that you can get while pregnant if you inhale chicken manure on a reglar basis (it's either chix or turkey - I forget). But it affects the fetus, not the mom.

In the above quote, the "well known medical condition" is, I believe some of a constellation of symptoms associated with infection by the toxoplasma gondii parasite. Transmission of the parasite from bird-to-human is vanishingly rare. Far more common is the route of exposure to oocysts from feline (cat) faeces. Below is a citation from the biosciences department. Note that *ONLY* cats (domestic or feral) experience the enteroepithelial stage of infection, and thus are the only animal vector by which one may be infected secondary to exposure to frangible (via respiration), or fresh ( ingestion from unwashed hands) feline faeces.

Toxoplasma gondii has very low host specificity, and it will probably infect almost any mammal. It has also been reported from birds, and has been found in virtually every country of the world. Like most of the Apicomplexa, Toxoplasma is an obligate intracellular parasite. Its life cycle includes two phases called the intestinal (or enteroepithelial) and extraintestinal phases. The intestinal phase occurs in cats only (wild as well as domesticated cats) and produces "oocysts." The extraintestinal phase occurs in all infected animals (including cats) and produces "tachyzoites" and, eventually, "bradyzoites" or "zoitocysts." The disease toxoplasmosis can be transmitted by ingestion of oocysts (in cat feces) or bradyzoites (in raw or undercooked meat) (view a diagram of the life cycle). Several of these life cycle stages are shown below.

In most humans infected with Toxoplasma, the disease is asymptomatic. However, under some conditions, toxoplasmosis can cause serious pathology, including hepatitis, pneumonia, blindness, and severe neurological disorders. This is especially true in individuals whose immune systems are compromised (e.g., AIDS patients). Toxoplasmosis can also be transmitted transplacentally resulting in a spontaneous abortion, a still born, or a child that is severely handicapped mentally and/or physically.

Herewith the link to the published article, with citations:
LINK LINK LINK
As for the assertion of health risks associated with prolonged exposure to avian faeces, one need only point out that prolonged exposure to any sort of faeces, mammalian, reptilian, insect (termite nests produce extremely toxic fumes from the concentrated faecal accumulation), or avian, is an extremely bad idea. Rather on par with an enjoyable evening sit-down in one's (running) motorcar, while in an enclosed space. One can safely assume this bit of knowledge is, perhaps the primary reason that faeces do NOT play an important role in home building, cooking, medicine, or any other field of human existence, save as a fertilising agent when mixed with composting soils. Any human (or psittazen, for that matter) is far more likely to experience high pathogen, or noxious chemical (ammonia) exposure from a to-rarely-emptied-&-sanitised diaper pail, rather than from a three day unchanged cage paper. As ever, the best idea is to change the papers on a daily basis. One would daresay that the idea of tolerating an unflushed faeces filled toilet for 24 hours or more would be revolting & repugnant to most persons. Similar good judgement ( & housekeeping standards) would render any concern reguarding *specious* disease exposure , or toxic chemical poisoning (also specious), absolutely moot.

[Alyce Johnson]

Thanks for hunting down the science!

I only remembered our family doctor talking about the problem when I was a kid, and I couldnt remember what it was called, just that it was at one time common. In the CA central valley, where agricultural workers are exposed to some awful conditions, apparently there were mentally handicapped kids due to mom having been exposed to the aerosol dust of poultry feces. I think they've tried to clean up this situation, at least somewhat, nowdays although farm workers still dont get the best living or working conditions, sadly.

I also knew about the hazard in cat feces - but I didnt know it was the same bug.

Agreed that any ongoing exposure to anybody's feces is a bad idea.
Like I said above, I'm more concerned with the mold spores than the germs, on a short term (less than 24 hr) basis (for myself anyway, as I'm allergic to mold).

And I agree about the diaper pail - they're probably a greater health hazard nation wide than anybody's birds! LOL Speaking of which, I should get off of bird board and go clean some cages....

[Tiki]

Yehuda-don't ever travel in China-the "facilities" there are the worst I have ever seen in the world! And trust me, I HAVE seen the world! I am amazed they aren't all sick!

Diaper pails-YUCK!!! I knew there was a reason I never had kids!