Hello,

Can someone provide me with information that explains what can happen
if you are exposed to bird droppings?

I'm particularly interested in finding out why it is bad to not clean
the bird droppings off the floor of someone's home when they have a
bird that craps all over the floor.

Particularly interested in any deseases that can be generated because
of uncleanliness of bird droppings in a household.

Hello estropelic2-ga,

Thanks for the question! I recommend that you read the last two links
I have posted below. They are good articles and I believe they will
answer your questions satisfactorily.

"Droppings are unhealthy ? even potentially fatal. More than 60
different transmissible diseases have been associated with birds and
their excrement."
SOURCE: http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:YZ01RQsfypUJ:www.birdx.com/+bird+dropping+unhealthy&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=3

Further reading: (At the bottom of this article, it gives proper
instructions for cleaning up bird droppings)
"The most serious health risks arise from disease organisms that can
grow in the nutrient-rich accumulations of bird droppings, feathers
and debris under a roost ? particularly if roosts have been active for
years. External parasites also may become a problem when infested
birds or bats leave roosts or nests. The parasites then can invade
buildings and bite people."
Health Hazards Associated with Bird and Bat Droppings: 
http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/hb/hbb&bdrp.htm

Here is a specific disease that effects birds (Exotic Newcastle
Disease) if you want to read about a specific one:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/birdbiosecurity/end.html

Please let me know if you require any clarification and I will do my
best to further assist you. All the best,

tisme-ga


Search Strategy:

bird droppings
bird droppings health
bird dropping disease OR diseases
bird dropping disease OR diseases pet

estropelic2-ga,

Aside from their effect on the room?s aesthetics and the pungent
aroma, accumulations of bird droppings, particularly from a single
household pet, are relatively benign. Birds are less closely related
to us than the common mammalian household pets and pests, and so the
numbers of common disease susceptibilities are relatively less. While
the web pages in the previous comment mention the risk of fungal
growths, these are very rare and are more likely to occur in
industrial livestock operations where high concentrations of
individual birds will produce intensive local contamination.
(Incidentally, note that the first site mentioned is from a bird
removal agency, who of course is more interested in selling you a
service than providing accurate information) With novel viruses such
as West Nile and Avian Influenza occurring more frequently, however,
government health agencies are recommending a bit of discretion on
your part. Again, though, the most likely contamination vector is
within your commercial livestock operations (or mosquitoes in the case
of West Nile), not in domestic avian occupants. The best guideline is
probably common sense. While not necessarily lethal, a living area
sodden with waste is going to be unpleasant and unhealthy for both
mammalian and avian occupants.

Out of curiosity, where did you hear that you should avoid removing
avian faeces from someone?s floor?

Regards, 

Captain Jack Morgan

P.S. For general information on birds, check out the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/. Even if they don?t have
any information on health issues, they probably can link you to
someone who will.

P.P.S. The latest reports indicate that the lethal strain of H5N1 has
not yet reached North America:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/281215_birdflu15.html