Histoplasmosis !!! Please read !!! Important for all !!

[MrsSmitho]

Morning chicken lovers!

WOW..I had JUST read about Histoplasmosis...and am figuring that is what a couple of my chickens have...one, that has been in the house for 3 days now...has had fever andall the other symptoms...

she just got moved in her quarentine cage to my farm truck.

and me & the hubby have been fighting a nasty head cold, going on 3 weeks now...I winder???

So...since I think I have it..and don't know what to do.

should I make a bigger quarentine area away from the coop and put all possible sickies in there????

should I leave them with the rest and hope for the best???

I will definatly white wash down the coop and add lime to the run.

AND wear a make from now on...

Gosh!! That is kinda freaky

shoulda read more!!

Please advise

Kim

 

[mtnhomechick]

Glad to hear you had it checked out Chicken Woman.

Mary

 

[Chicken Woman]

If you are sick you need to be tested ! They can see it by a blood test or urine. IM not sure a lime whitwash would do any good as this is a natural thing found in chicken coops, sheep,goats,cattle,horses garden soil, construction site soil etc. It is a fungus that is present almost everywhere. Where you get sick is when the soil is stirred up or animal bedding. The fungus spores become air born when stirred up you inhale them into your lungs. That's why it is sooo important to wear protective clothing coveralls,boots,gloves used only in that area and don't bring or wear them in your home and mask when working with these materials.

Protecting yourself from exposure is the most important thing you can do !!!!

I have not heard that the chickens can be bothered by this. I will keep reading I guess.
What is the body temp of a chicken ? As this fungus only grows at higher temps so won't actually grow outside the body. Once it enters your lungs is when it will start to grow.

 

[Chicken Woman]

Regardless of which respirator is selected, the device should be NIOSH-certified and used in the context of a respiratory protection program. Important components of such a program are facepiece fit testing, respirator maintenance, user training, medical evaluation of users, respiratory protection program evaluation, and recordkeeping.86,87





Disposable and elastomeric, half-facepiece, air-purifying respirators(assigned protection factor: 5–10)
A half-facepiece respirator covers the wearer's nose and mouth. Because inhalation creates a slight negative pressure inside the facepiece of non-powered, air-purifying respirators with respect to outside, these respirators are also called negative-pressure respirators. During inhalation, contaminated air can easily enter the facepiece of a negative-pressure respirator at gaps between the facepiece and the respirator wearer's face. Therefore, a complete face-to-facepiece seal is essential for good protection. Getting a seal at the nose is difficult for some people, and it is probably the most frequent location of leaks. Facial hair (even the stubble of a few days' growth), absence of one or both dentures, and deep facial scars can also prevent a complete seal.

Whereas elastomeric half-facepiece respirators consist of a reusable elastomeric or rubber facepiece and replaceable filters, most disposable respirators are filtering facepieces in which the facepiece is the dust filter. Disposable respirators and replaceable filters can be used until they are difficult to breathe through, damaged, or malodorous.

 

[Chicken Woman]

www.cdc.gov/niosh/hi97146.html Good info

 

[Chicken Woman]

Histoplasmosis
What is histoplasmosis?
Histoplasmosis (say: hiss-toe-plaz-mo-sis) is an infection in your lungs caused by a fungus (called histoplasma capsulatum). In severe cases, it can spread through the whole body.
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How did I get histoplasmosis?
The fungus that causes histoplasmosis grows in the ground. Farming, gardening or any activity that disturbs the soil can let fungus spores get into the air. If you breathe in those spores, you can get the infection.

You can't catch histoplasmosis from another person or from an animal. Birds do not carry the infection, but their droppings provide food for the fungus in the ground (so you can get histoplasmosis in areas such as chicken coops). The droppings of bats also feed the fungus in the ground (so you can get histoplasmosis in areas where bats live, such as caves).
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Who is most likely to get histoplasmosis?
The histoplasma capsulatum fungus is the most common type of fungus in the United States. However, most people who are infected with histoplasmosis have few or no symptoms.

Histoplasmosis occurs in places that have moderate temperatures and moisture. It is very common in the Ohio, Missouri and Mississippi river valleys due to the damp, rich soil found in those areas.

Farmers, landscapers, construction workers, archaeologists and geologists are at an increased rick for histoplasmosis.

Severe infections may develop in children under age 2 and in adults older than 55. People who have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), are receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer, are taking long-term corticosteroids (such as prednisone) or are taking anti-rejection medicines after an organ transplant are at an increased risk for developing severe cases of histoplasmosis. A chronic infection can occur in patients with lung diseases like emphysema (say: em-fa-see-ma).
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What are the symptoms of histoplasmosis?
Most healthy people who are infected with histoplasmosis never experience any symptoms, because their bodies fight off the disease. In people who do experience symptoms, the following are the most common:
Fever
Headache
Cough
Chills
Sweats
Chest pain
Muscle aches
Weight loss
More severe cases of histoplasmosis include the following symptoms:
Fatigue
Fever
Night sweats
A cough that may bring up blood
How does my doctor know I have histoplasmosis?
Your doctor can test your blood or urine for histoplasmosis. He or she can also take a sample of tissue for testing. Chest X-rays are helpful for detecting inflammation in the lungs, but your doctor can't be sure you have histoplasmosis just by looking at an X-ray.
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How is histoplasmosis treated?
The treatment depends on how serious the infection is and how long the illness has lasted. Many people don't need any treatment and the body will fight the infection on its own. Some people need to take an antifungal medicine. If you need to take medicine for histoplasmosis, your doctor will watch out for possible side effects on your kidney or liver from the medicine. You may need to take medicine for weeks or months. If you have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), you may need to take this medicine for the rest of your life.

Some people have to go to the hospital to get oxygen therapy and intravenous fluids. Others can be treated at home. Most people do well with treatment.

 

[BethinIrving]

Here's what I do --

Since I use leaves for litter and nesting materials, I keep everything raked and clean on a daily basis. But first before I do the raking is do a hose down of everything.

Take Universal Precautions. Wear a mask. Don't wear the shoes/boots/clothing you wear to clean up after the birds, in the house or other parts of the yard, and keep them outside. Wash hands and fingernails. Bathe and wash hair. I also wash my face and eyes with baby shampoo, rinse, then use a saline solution in my eyes.

Dust is the devil in this picture. Stay out of the yard if you've got a strong wind blowing up the dust. And don't let children play in the hen house or chicken yard.

I also wash my eggs each day after they are collected. Some folks don't do that, but I always do.

Keep in mind that when you tamp down the dust problem with a water spray, you are likely going to create a breeding and hatching environment for flies. Then you get to dance with that problem.

 

[Chicabee19]

Thank you so much for the head's up! I definitely will protect myself in the chicken area, since the literature says Histo can affect immuno-compromised individuals more severely.

I'm pretty sure the regular paper face masks will not keep out spores of 2-3 microns in size.

Here is an excellent article that talks about spores. It also mentions a cloud of mold, which happened to me a few years ago when the city delivered "fresh" compost to our property. The mold cloud covered half a block of our neighborhood.

http://www.aspergillus.org.uk/secure/airquality/facemasks.php

 

[Bandana]

I'm glad we don't have a problem with that in the Phoenix area, but thanks for posting. Always good to exercise caution. Especially those of us with whimpy immune systems.

 

[mtnhomechick]

Quote:
If you are raising chickens or birds for that matter, you ARE at risk. Please wear a mask.

I am the person who told her to look up Histoplasmosis. It's no SMALL thing. I can be serious.

Mary