Pigeons are an integral part of the city landscape; these birds symbolize a happy life and purity of feelings, but you should not come into contact with them. More than 50 infections can attack a bird’s body, many of which are transmitted to humans. The owner of a dovecote must know what dangerous diseases pigeons carry and carefully monitor the health of their pets, otherwise the epidemic will greatly reduce the population, and the person himself will have to undergo long-term treatment.
Tularemia
It is impossible to tell by appearance and behavior whether a pigeon is infected with a bacterial infection or not.The carriers are the pigeons themselves and the ticks that live in the dovecote. A person only needs to pet a bird to become infected. Incubation lasts 5-7 days. Sometimes the asymptomatic period lasts for 3 weeks, and sometimes symptoms appear several hours after infection.
There are several forms of pathology:
- generalized – accompanied by symptoms of general intoxication;
- bubonic – the infection penetrates the skin;
- conjunctival – the mucous membranes of the eyeballs become infected;
- ulcerative - ulcers appear in the area that is the source of infection;
- anginal – inflammation of the tonsils caused by oral infection;
- abdominal – the intestinal tract is affected;
- pneumonic – accompanied by damage to the bronchi and the development of pneumonia.
Symptoms of the disease in humans:
- redness and swelling of the face;
- temperature increase;
- rashes on the skin and mucous surface of the oral cavity;
- lack of appetite;
- muscle weakness in the body;
- trembling of limbs;
- intense pain in the head;
- enlarged lymph nodes;
- intense abdominal pain due to liver enlargement.
The disease is easily transmitted from pigeon to person, but transmission does not occur between people.
With proper treatment, the body quickly returns to normal. If symptoms are ignored, pneumonia develops. Treatment is with antibiotics. It is advisable for dovecote owners and other people at risk to be vaccinated every 5 years.
Toxoplasmosis
Pigeons become infected with a single-celled pathogen by eating contaminated food. The infection affects birds and mammals. In birds the symptoms are pronounced. Sick pigeons do not eat, move chaotically, stagger when walking, and experience convulsions.No more than 50% of infected individuals survive, and their disease becomes chronic. A person becomes infected through direct contact with a sick bird and its droppings. The infection is also carried by blood-sucking parasites that live on the body of pigeons.
For a person with a strong immune system, the disease is not dangerous and is usually asymptomatic. Less commonly observed is an acute or chronic course, accompanied by:
- acute – fever, vomiting, headache, liver enlargement, convulsions;
- chronic - a slight increase in temperature, pain in the head, enlarged lymph nodes, deterioration of the liver and other internal organs, and sometimes vision problems.
The disease poses a danger to the pregnant woman and the developing embryo in the womb. In most cases, intrauterine fetal death occurs. The surviving child is born with severe mental retardation, damage to the central parts of the nervous system and internal organs. Antibiotics are used for treatment.
Pseudotuberculosis
Also called Far Eastern fever. The pathogenic bacterium spreads through food and affects birds and mammals. Sick pigeons are dangerous for people who constantly come into contact with them, although the likelihood of infection through food is low.
In humans, the disease is accompanied mainly by symptoms typical of an intestinal infection:
- significant increase in temperature;
- vomiting;
- pain in the head, muscles and stomach;
- weakness;
- chills;
- intense diarrhea with bowel movements up to 12 times a day;
- the release of brownish-green, foaming, foul-smelling feces, sometimes with mucous and bloody inclusions.
Sometimes the disease affects the joints, and then the diagnosis of “arthralgia” is mistakenly made. In this case, there are no intestinal symptoms, but joints hurt, skin rashes and symptoms of damage to the digestive tract appear.
In the generalized course of the disease, the temperature rises to 38-40 °C, vomiting and muscle weakness are noted, later – conjunctivitis and liver enlargement. After half a month, the skin, mainly on the extremities, becomes covered in rashes. A month later, the person recovers from infection, and the previously inflamed skin begins to peel off.
The septic course of the pathology is characterized by a long course (up to a year), it is observed with a deficiency of immunity, the temperature reaches 40 ° C, the person looks weak, anemic, and shudders. The probability of death is 80%. Pseudotuberculosis is treated with antibiotics. The patient must eat a therapeutic diet.
Campylobacteriosis
The bacterial disease carried by pigeons is accompanied by damage to the human digestive tract. Infection is possible through food if hand hygiene is not observed.
Incubation lasts up to 2 days. Then the person develops the following symptoms, lasting 3-4 days:
- nagging pain in the abdomen;
- vomit;
- diarrhea, the release of liquid, foul-smelling feces, sometimes with bloody inclusions;
- temperature increase;
- joint and muscle pain.
In the chronic course of the disease, the symptoms are similar, but less pronounced.
For treatment, antibiotics “Erythromycin”, “Tetracycline”, as well as drugs from the fluoroquinolone group are used. With immunodeficiency and early childhood, death is possible.
Infectious listeriosis
A person can contract the infection through direct contact with birds, their feces and mucous secretions, as well as inhaling dusty air. The duration of the incubation period is from a couple of days to several months.
Symptoms vary, depending on the form of the disease:
- acute - headaches, muscle and joint pain, chills, later enlargement of the liver, inflammation of the lymph nodes, red rashes, most abundant on the face and in the areas of joints;
- glandular - febrile condition, symptoms of tonsillitis, inflammation and tenderness of the cervical lymph nodes, enlargement of the liver, in isolated cases conjunctivitis;
- visceral – febrile condition, symptoms of tonsillitis, defecation disturbance, enlarged and painful lymph nodes, dilation of liver tissue;
- nervous – febrile, convulsive and delirious states, headache, clouding of consciousness, mental disorder, decreased skin sensitivity, drooping eyelids, change in pupil diameter;
- mixed - headaches, muscle and joint pain, fever, symptoms of tonsillitis, liver enlargement, inflammation of the lymph nodes, vague signs of a nervous disorder.
Chronic listeriosis is asymptomatic, sometimes symptoms of ARVI are observed. When a bacterial infection seizes the nervous system, the development of encephalitis and meningitis with a highly probable fatal outcome is possible.
If you become infected with listeriosis, it is recommended to terminate your pregnancy. The child will be born still or premature, in the second case he will not live even a month.
The disease is treated with antibiotics "Tetracycline" and "Penicillin". The course lasts for half a month.
Newcastle disease
Typically, viral infections carried by birds do not affect humans, the only exception being Newcastle disease, also known as whirligig disease. Pigeons transmit the infection through close contact, but the pathology does not have serious consequences for humans. Symptoms similar to ARVI and conjunctivitis usually occur.
Psittacosis
It's ornithosis. The disease caused by chlamydia affects the pulmonary system. Having entered the body through the respiratory system, the infection spreads through the bloodstream through the internal organs. Psittacosis is also called avian rabies. Pigeons become infected by eating contaminated food and often die. And a person catches the infection through contact with infected birds and inhaling dusty air in a dovecote.
A sick person has:
- shortness of breath, pulmonary failure;
- cough;
- weakening of muscles;
- bone pain;
- temperature increase;
- liver dysfunction;
- nervous disorders.
The disease is treated with antibiotics. The course lasts 2-3 months. The immunity of a recovered person is unstable, and there is a risk of re-infection.
Salmonellosis
One of the most common infections carried by pigeons. The bacterium spreads through feces, and people become infected by not maintaining hygiene after contact with birds and their food.
The duration of incubation is a day or two. The disease is acute or asymptomatic. In the second case, a person suffers an infection without even knowing it and infects those around him.
The acute course of the disease is not life-threatening, but the symptoms are unpleasant:
- vomit;
- disruption of the stomach;
- mild abdominal pain;
- defecation disorder;
- passing yellowish-green, foul-smelling feces;
- weakness;
- sometimes a sharp increase in temperature.
Salmonellosis is treated with penicillin drugs and fluoroquinolones.With proper treatment, recovery occurs after 2 weeks.
How to avoid getting infected from pigeons?
Since infectious diseases are most often transmitted through direct contact, caution must be exercised when interacting with urban birds.
To prevent pigeons from causing infection, the following preventive rules should be followed:
- minimize contact with street flocks;
- do not allow the child to come into close contact with birds;
- do not feed pigeons by hand, pour food into a feeder or onto the asphalt;
- do not consume food or drink while pigeons are feeding nearby;
- After touching the pigeons, wash your hands thoroughly with a hygiene product;
- regularly clean and disinfect the dovecote, clean household and transport air conditioners;
- do not touch a sick bird (it should be treated by a veterinarian).
The main rule of prevention is hygiene. Only in this way will the diseases carried by pigeons become less scary and not cause serious consequences.
