can a bird nest make you sick

Birds are beautiful and many homeowners encourage them to come onto their property. Unfortunately, too much of a good thing can lead to bird nests cluttering your trees, eaves and yard. When local birds have moved from friendly neighbours to unwanted guests, it is time to contact Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control for nest and bird removal Oakville. Find out why you shouldn’t even handle a nest without the help of a professional.

HOW DO YOU CATCH A DISEASE FROM BIRDS?

Although there are numerous ways to contract some of the numerous diseases spread by birds, these are the most popular routes of transmission:

Inhaling Contaminated Air: Fecal matter that has dried out becomes very light and easily crumbles into a fine powder when trampled by foot traffic from people or animals. Even though these pathogen-laced particles are invisible to the unaided eye, they can still be just as harmful as whole droppings when they are stirred up by winds, particularly before a storm.

Food Contamination – When eating outside during a cookout or picnic, or if you don’t wash your fruits and vegetables, birds can contaminate food with bacteria, fungi, and other viruses that they spread through a variety of channels. For instance, enjoying a picnic beneath a tree with a bird’s nest nearby that is releasing microscopic particles into your food that are too small for you to see but nevertheless contain diseases
Drinking: Contaminated water or beverages can also result in infection, much like contaminated food does.
Contact with Dead Birds: Wear sterile gloves when handling dead birds. If you don’t handle a dead bird in your yard carefully, it could infect you with diseases.
Insects: flies, fleas, and lice are common insects that bite birds before moving on to bite humans (yes, some flies bite). This can spread any disease the insects may be carrying from the birds they bit earlier.

HOW ARE THESE BIRDS TRANSMITTING DISEASES?

Like other animals, birds typically spread disease through a variety of means, such as direct contact, contaminating the nearby airspace, or through insects they attract or carry that subsequently bite people.

There are three primary ways that certain bird species transmit diseases to other birds.

The main source of bird disease transmission is bird feces, particularly from the birds we have just mentioned. This is because bird droppings are a veritable petri dish of pathogens. In small amounts, bird feces are harmful. But dealing with a bird infestation also means dealing with an excessive accumulation of bird droppings, which poses a health risk. This is the reason Houston pest control businesses advise against bird infestations in order to prevent a more serious problem later on.

Feathers are another common source of disease transmission among birds, albeit not as frequently as excrement. Particularly in densely populated areas, bird feathers are frequently home to a wide variety of bacteria, parasites, and nasty viruses. It should be remembered, though, that the feathers that pose this risk usually come from a dead bird.

As experts in Houston pest control, we discover that bird nests also contribute significantly to the spread of diseases, especially a number of fungal species that can proliferate through the debris that birds collect and utilize as a nesting site. Additionally, insects and parasites like fleas and lice thrive in bird nests.

Common Diseases Spread by Birds

An estimated 60 illnesses that birds can spread to people and animals are carried by them. While some of these illnesses are extremely unpleasant, others are quite dangerous. They are primarily transmitted as viral, fungal or bacterial infections. By handling birds, their nests, or their excrement, you run the risk of catching some common diseases. These include:

Avian influenza
Salmonellosis
Histoplasmosis
Psittacosis
West Nile virus

Anything associated with birds can serve as a host for a bacterial, fungal, or viral disease due to the variety of ways in which they can infect people. You could be in danger if you handle a dead or alive bird, share food or water with it, or even just move a nest.

FAQ

Can you get sick from a bird nest?

Birds, bird droppings and nesting materials can carry over 60 diseases and ectoparasites transmittable to humans and animals. Individuals with compromised or weakened immune systems such as the young, elderly and those living with auto immune diseases are the most at risk.

What are the side effects of birds nest?

Although Edible Bird’s Nest is generally safe to consume, there might be potential adverse side effects caused by allergens or poisoning. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headaches, dizziness, fever, chills, and muscle aches.

Are bird nests a health hazard?

Health Risks Pest birds cause a variety of health-related risks presented by the accumulation of bird droppings and nesting materials. Pest birds have been known to spread diseases such as histoplasmosis, encephalitis, salmonella, meningitis, toxoplasmosis, rickets, paratyphoid and more.

Is it bad to have a bird nest in your house?

Bird nests carry bacteria that can be harmful to humans and domestic pets in the household. Birds also carry parasites, such as ticks, fleas, and mites, that could go on to infest your home.