Histoplasmosis Prevention

[lmterp]

Hi all,

My husband suggested vacuuming our coop yesterday, and I told him it was not a good idea because of Histplasmosis. I then read him the Mayo Clinic overview and he is very concerned. He has been dealing with cancer for many years and is reluctant to risk infection. From my reading, I believe the risk is extremely minimal day to day, and minimized if cleaning with a mask and, possibly, wetting down surfaces before stirring up the dust. But he is now worried about simple things like my tracking chicken poop in on my shoes (which I leave in the basement) or, even, sitting with them in the coop or run. I am looking for facts to allay his concerns. We've had the chickens for 4 1/2 years, and they are (my) dearly loved pets.

 

[Bawkbok]

Oh great. As if we all don't have enough to worry about.

I'm sorry you and your husband are dealing with cancer. Best of luck to you.

 

[FunClucks]

Hi all,

My husband suggested vacuuming our coop yesterday, and I told him it was not a good idea because of Histplasmosis. I then read him the Mayo Clinic overview and he is very concerned. He has been dealing with cancer for many years and is reluctant to risk infection. From my reading, I believe the risk is extremely minimal day to day, and minimized if cleaning with a mask and, possibly, wetting down surfaces before stirring up the dust. But he is now worried about simple things like my tracking chicken poop in on my shoes (which I leave in the basement) or, even, sitting with them in the coop or run. I am looking for facts to allay his concerns. We've had the chickens for 4 1/2 years, and they are (my) dearly loved pets.

Histoplasmosis concern that I'm familiar with is mainly around cat litter. If you look up info about that, you will see that risk is low even with cat litter in the house, and cats that are pet by people. They simply have pregnant women not scoop the litter. Even then, it's not a risk for the mom, but for the developing baby. There's a blood test which can help give some insight, have to look and see what that actually tells you. Not sure how it interplays with someone who has cancer, but if you've had chickens for 4.5 yrs, odds are good you guys have already had it, got over it, and didn't know about it, or the risk is low enough not to worry about it. Sorry he's worried and that you guys are dealing with cancer. That really sucks!

 

[Sumac1092]

Hi all,

My husband suggested vacuuming our coop yesterday, and I told him it was not a good idea because of Histplasmosis. I then read him the Mayo Clinic overview and he is very concerned. He has been dealing with cancer for many years and is reluctant to risk infection. From my reading, I believe the risk is extremely minimal day to day, and minimized if cleaning with a mask and, possibly, wetting down surfaces before stirring up the dust. But he is now worried about simple things like my tracking chicken poop in on my shoes (which I leave in the basement) or, even, sitting with them in the coop or run. I am looking for facts to allay his concerns. We've had the chickens for 4 1/2 years, and they are (my) dearly loved pets.

Hello,

I had disseminated histoplasmosis from bats in my workplace. Bats carry it and shed it in their feces. It's in their guano. Poultry can't carry it because their body temperature is too high. But it grows well in chicken feces. Disseminated histoplasmosis can cause autoimmune symptoms, rheumatoid arthritis. Google Histoplasmosis followed by: leukemia, brain tumor, inflammatory breast cancer, ovarian cancer, anal carcinoma, etc. etc. etc.

Please see attached paper.

 

[Bawkbok]

Thank you for this information. I perused it at a high level and will read it in detail later. Fascinating and informative.