Has anyone got Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (Bird Keepers Lung/Flu)

[tamdeva]

Has anyone got Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (Bird Keepers Lung/Flu) from Caring for or cleaning your coop? I came down with it in December 2019 after cleaning my coop, without a mask, in October! Was awful, I was VERY sick. Its now March 2020 and I am finally getting better. Please people wear a mask when cleaning or handling your birds and the coop.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have bronchitis acquired from way back in the army in the early 70s. I haven't experienced your problem but I never clean a coop or go into a building to handle birds without a mask.
There is a real thing called hen workers lung.

 

[Folly's place]

Histoplasmosis is one of the nasty diseases that can lurk out there in the coop dust, and it ain't good!
I have asthma, and dust is not my friend, and that's what N95 dust masks are made for. Actual respirators are even better.
Just be safe and wear the mask, most especially when cleaning the coop, treating the birds, or spraying or dusting for parasites.
Mary

 

[MysteryChicken]

Never dealt with any health issues, after cleaning the coops. I don't use masks.

 

[Folly's place]

Lung damage is cumulative, so not having a problem before doesn't mean that it won't catch up with you later! Masks are cheap, and new lungs are very expensive...
Mary

 

[chrissynemetz]

My elderly neighbor passed away this past summer from pulmonary fibrosis. She was told it was caused by years of cleaning her chicken coop without a mask.

 

[Folly's place]

How sad, I'm sorry for her.
A friend of ours died of chronic Histoplasmosis, after being ill for years, in part because it was hard to diagnose.
Just be careful out there!
Mary

 

[Uff Da]

And of course, just looked into purchasing masks for cleaning and the prices are all sky-high because of coronavirus preppers. I suppose I'll have to use a bandana around my face till prices come down. I had never heard of this!

 

[rosemarythyme]

And of course, just looked into purchasing masks for cleaning and the prices are all sky-high because of coronavirus preppers. I suppose I'll have to use a bandana around my face till prices come down.

Yeah unfortunately now is a bad time to try and find masks. Do what you can do to in the meantime, and get some when supply comes back in stock.

 

[Ghosty]

I have gotten sick from cleaning my coop even with a mask. Had a bad cough after my last big cleaning. I went to buy some masks to clean my coop before they were sold out, and I didn't even come home with any. I picked up a pack of 50 and then googled how effective they were. A bandana filters (11%) double the particles that a basic dust mask (6%) does. You need expensive surgical masks to filter 33% of particles, and even that is nowhere near the 99% that a respirator filters. From now on, it's bandanas for me.