Should I be worried about Histoplasmosis?

[lovinsilkies18]

Hello! I'm new to the whole chicken thing, and would love to get some silkie hens! I just read about histoplasmosis from chickens, and now im freaking out and kinda wanting to back out of it. Which is so weird because I have wanted them for so long! SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT HISTO? Im only looking to have up to 5 hens. Should I go for it?

 

[ThiefPouter06]

If you live in the "ohio river valley" its a part of life with or without chickens. I am 35 and was diagnosed with occular histo a few years ago. I have only had birds a decade now and they say I was exposed when I was a child. Life would be boring if you worried about every risk wouldnt it?

 

[lovinsilkies18]

Definitely worth the risk! LOL! Going for it! Thanks for your input!

 

[hideeho]

We don't currently have chickens, and I don't know if my husband will want to raise any, but I heard a rooster in town the other day and started thinking about how cool it would be, and I do have a question about histo. We had a pet ringneck turtle dove when I was in high school and I got an eye infection and had erythema nodosa on my legs. The doctor had no idea what caused it and I was never treated for histo, and the symptoms went away on their own. I didn't find out that I'd had it until many years later when the eye doctor saw the spots on my retinas. Now that I live in an area where it's prevalent, all the doctors are familiar with it and aren't concerned about it. So anyway, I'm wondering if you've had histo at some point, do you have to worry about anything reactivating from working with birds? Or do you have any kind of immunity?

Thanks!
Heidi

 

[Reurra]

Im pretty paranoid of infectious diseases. My birds will be going into a brand new coop, never used by birds before. What are the chances of this developing and how can it be prevented?

Is there a risk that if I get it, it could be passed to my husband or children.

 

[ThiefPouter06]

They probably should move this thread to the correct forum. But anyway. Histoplasmosis is a fungus that grows on bird and bat droppings. From what Ive been told the risk is from years of acculmulation. When I was young my father was hired to clean a loading dock that was an old home to wild pigeons. He developed histo in the lung. I it caught by breathing in spores from infected areas or from infected items(in my case probably my dads clothes). Histo creates scarring in the lung and eyes. In the eyes this scarring causes vessels to take on fluid. These scars only bother the vision if they occur on the retina(lucky me). I attempted shots in the eye with an experimental medicine but I saw no change. Plus the horror of the eye shot will never leave me. Just keep your stuff cleaned regularly, have "loft clothes, hat and shoes" when cleaning.