How it spreads: People can get cryptococcosis by breathing in the microscopic fungus from the environment. Who is at risk: Cryptococcosis is extremely rare in healthy people. It most often affects people with weakened immune systems. Symptoms in people: Symptoms can resemble pneumonia, including cough, shortness of breath, and fever.
Cryptococcal meningitis can cause headache, fever, and neck pain. Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by fungus found in the environment, particularly in soil that contains large amounts of bird and bat droppings. How it spreads: People can get histoplasmosis by breathing in the microscopic fungus from the environment. Who is at risk: Anyone can get histoplasmosis, but those most at risk for serious infection include adults over 65 years old, infants, and people with weakened immune systems.
People who do get sick from histoplasmosis can have pneumonia-like symptoms that usually appear within days of exposure. Symptoms include fever, cough, and fatigue. Psittacosis is a disease caused by bacteria Chylamydia psittaci spread through the droppings and respiratory secretions of infected birds.
People most commonly get psittacosis after exposure to pet birds, like parrots and cockatiels, and poultry, like turkeys or ducks. When birds are infected, veterinarians call the disease avian chlamydiosis. How it spreads : People most commonly get psittacosis by breathing in dust from droppings or respiratory secretions of infected birds.
Less commonly, birds infect people through bites and beak-to-mouth contact. Who is at risk: Anyone who is exposed to the bacteria can get psittacosis, but it is more commonly reported among adults. People who have contact with birds such as bird owners and those who work with birds are at increased risk. Signs in birds: Infected birds may or may not show symptoms.
If they do have symptoms, they can include poor appetite, discharge from the eyes or nose, diarrhea or loose droppings, green urates the white part of their droppings , or breathing difficulty, among others. Symptoms in people: People who get sick with psittacosis might have fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, difficulty breathing, and a dry cough.
Symptoms usually start days after exposure. Less commonly, people report symptoms that begin after 14 days. Before buying or adopting a pet bird, make sure a bird is the right type of pet for your family. Outbreaks have be en linked to breathing in dust stirred up by lawn mowers after being contaminated by wild bird droppings.
Lawn mowing and gardening have also been associated with psittacosis during outbreaks. Birds may carry the infection without signs of illness, however the infection can also be fatal to birds. Sick birds may have signs such as :.
If in doubt, a vet should examine your bird. Infected birds respond to treatment in many instances but need to be isolated and placed on long course of antibiotic treatment and have their cages disinfected. Appropriate disinfectants include those with any of the following active ingredients:. People dealing with aborted horse material should follow the advice in Primefact: biosecurity advice when handling aborted material from horses.
Your doctor can diagnose psittacosis by the symptoms, an examination and by doing some tests. Tests may include a chest x-ray, and taking some blood or respiratory samples to test for the bacteria. Laboratories must confidentially notify cases of psittacosis to the local public health unit. Public health unit staff will talk to the treating doctor and patient or carer to identify where the infection may have come from.
Other people who may have been exposed to an infected bird should be made aware of the symptoms of infection. The bird should be treated and its environment cleaned with disinfectant to prevent further infections being spread to other people or other birds. For further information please call your local Public Health Unit on You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server.
Please enable scripts and reload this page. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Can our birds get sick from us? Thread starter Riio Start date Oct 18, Riio New member. So with the change of seasons etc comes colds, flu, etc. If we have one of these illnesses can we get our birds sick? Probably a stupid question but I honestly am worried about it. MollyGreenCheeks New member.
This is absolutely NOT a stupid question. When I spoke to my vet about this she said that your bird cannot get the common cold from you I didn't think about the flu. The one thing she emphasized was not to allow your bird to steal kisses where they may get some of your saliva. I know that mine love to try to get my teeth or try to nibble on my bottom lip, etc. Our saliva can get them very sick. I was hoping this was the case. Mar 19, 0. My avian vet said no birdie kisses because they can get sick from you.
They can catch the flu or other respiratory illnesses from you. Incidentally, guinea pigs can get sick from being handled by people with active respiratory infections such as a cold, sinus infection, etc.
This is actually pretty common in households with kids. In our household, we do not handle birds or guinea pigs when we are sick--especially if we are sneezing or coughing. We do use hand sanitizer and hold them as long as we are not coughing or sneezing, but we keep contact to a minimum. MeganMango New member. Viruses are generally species specific, with few exceptions. Aside from the bird flu get to the hospital and avoid contact with anyone your bird cant catch a cold or flu virus from you.
Your bird can catch a few parasites and bacterial infections however, and can likewise transmit these to you. Guinea pigs can catch a couple of rare respiratory infections, but it is highly unlikely that you are even carrying them. You should avoid allowing your bird having contact with any mucus membranes or body fluids to avoid bacterial transfer. This is pretty easy, we are talking saliva, urine, feces etc, the same precautions you should take with other people.
Even if you are sick, washing your hands with normal soap and water should be sufficient to prevent any bacterial transfer. Keep in mind that most organisms you carry are completely harmless. If you have an illness that is transferable to an animal, you are very sick indeed and will need hospital attention. These are usually the scariest of pathogens and are called zoonoses.
They usually only transmit across very specific species ie HIV non human primates , ebola fruit bat , H1N1 swine , bird flu avian. Parasites are more of an issue, and if you have a parasite odds are you will know it.
Again they are almost always species specific with very few exceptions. Bed bugs prefer birds, but they arent picky feeders. Some ticks will munch on you and your birds, but they are usually one-time feeders so even if you have a tick it isnt likely to leave you for your bird.
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