Some The Villages people find fun in watching pigeons. It serves as an entertainment for them while giving them with a few bread crumbs. However, some people think that the pigeons are nothing more than rats that have wings. They carry a range of diseases that can be transmitted to humans. There are at least 60 variants of diseases that they carry. Fortunately, not a lot of them can be fatal to us humans.

List of Diseases that Pigeons Carry

The Florida pigeons will mostly transmit their disease through their droppings. While we have been warned about the droppings of the pigeons, avoiding a direct contact with them will be a lot complex than we think. The feces of the pigeon can be found in the community with a high presence of pigeon. Once the feces have been disturbed, the fungal spores will be carried through the air that we can easily inhale.

Histoplasmosis

This is a fungal disease that is caused by Histoplasma Capsulatum. This type of The Villages fungus is extremely light that allows them to move in the air freely. This fungus will survive in moist areas and things that are rich in nutrients such as the droppings of the birds. This is why you need to be extra careful the next time that you will visit the chicken coop. Those who have contracted the disease will experience symptoms such as joint pain, chills, fatigues, headaches, muscle pain, dry cough, and fever. There are various forms of Histoplasmosis. The mild type will not produce any symptoms while the most severe type can lead to several symptoms after 7 days of exposure.

Cryptococcosis

This is another fungal spore that can be transferred through the droppings of the Florida pigeons. This is normally found in the nesting area of the pigeon. At least 84% of the nesting area has been determined positive with the fungus that caused Crytococcosis. Symptoms of this disease will include skin lesions, coughing, fever, pneumonia-like symptoms, and breathing difficulty. Just like the Histoplasmosis, the mild case of Cryptococcosis will not show any sign. The sickness will run its entire course without knowing that you acquired the disease. However, there are also severe cases of this disease. This can attack our nervous system and cause lung infection. This is a life threatening condition that requires immediate medical attention. 

Psittacosis

This infection is also known as Parrot Fever. Once the feces of the Florida pigeon dried out and disturbed, the fungal spores will be released into the air. Those who have contracted this disease will experience muscle and joint pain, chills, fever, fatigues, bloody sputum, and dry cough. This is a quite rare but serious condition. In some cases this may lead to the death of the host.

Prevention is the key to stay away from the diseases that The Villages pigeons carry. At the first sign of infestation, you should hire the service of the professionals to get them out of your property at once and eliminate the health risks related with their infestation.