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Source: https://globalnews.ca/news/7704434/alberta-rare-bat-bird-droppings-disease-histoplasmosis/
Rare disease transmitted by bat and bird droppings discovered in rural Alberta
By Kirby Bourne 630CHED
Posted March 18, 2021 12:09 pm
Updated March 18, 2021 9:21 pm
Teams from Alberta Precision Laboratory and the University of Alberta have discovered that a rare pulmonary disease linked to bats and birds has made its home in Alberta.
Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection transmitted through bat and bird droppings that can be present in contaminated dust particles.
When inhaled, patients experience respiratory infections with flu-like symptoms like cough, fever, chills and headache.
Histoplasmosis has always been a travel-related disease, according to a Thursday news release from Alberta Health Services, and cases are usually related to people who have come into contact with droppings in old homes, churches, construction sites and parks.
?So proximity to construction sites or in people?s homes, older homes, if they were doing construction, or even cleaning out old churches, is some of the areas where exposures occurred,? said Tanis Dingle, APL?s lead clinical microbiologist for fungal diseases and an assistant professor in the U of A?s faculty of medicine and dentistry.
There were 45 cases confirmed in Alberta between 2011 and 2018...
Rare disease transmitted by bat and bird droppings discovered in rural Alberta
By Kirby Bourne 630CHED
Posted March 18, 2021 12:09 pm
Updated March 18, 2021 9:21 pm
Teams from Alberta Precision Laboratory and the University of Alberta have discovered that a rare pulmonary disease linked to bats and birds has made its home in Alberta.
Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection transmitted through bat and bird droppings that can be present in contaminated dust particles.
When inhaled, patients experience respiratory infections with flu-like symptoms like cough, fever, chills and headache.
Histoplasmosis has always been a travel-related disease, according to a Thursday news release from Alberta Health Services, and cases are usually related to people who have come into contact with droppings in old homes, churches, construction sites and parks.
?So proximity to construction sites or in people?s homes, older homes, if they were doing construction, or even cleaning out old churches, is some of the areas where exposures occurred,? said Tanis Dingle, APL?s lead clinical microbiologist for fungal diseases and an assistant professor in the U of A?s faculty of medicine and dentistry.
There were 45 cases confirmed in Alberta between 2011 and 2018...