New Delhi: In India, people love to domesticate pigeons and feed them grains. But not many are aware that these birds are harmful for our pulmonary health.
Dr Bobby Bhalotra, vice-chairman of the department of chest medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Delhi, shared that in July, the hospital treated an 11-year-old with a “disease, found to have resulted from prolonged exposure to pigeon droppings and feathers.”
Dr Bhalotra, who has been practising for last 30 years, said that in urban areas like Delhi, “we have seen an increasing trend of such cases being associated with pigeons”.
Medical investigation has revealed that pigeon droppings and feathers can lead to permanent damage of lungs. The disease is also called ‘bird fancier’s lung’ by bird enthusiasts. The symptoms include lung scarring, tightness in the chest, shortness of breath and prolonged cough, Scroll reported.
Dr Vivek Singh, director of pulmonology and lung transplant at Medanta Gurugram, said: “Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is not an infection but the way the body reacts to certain allergens or chemicals that are present in pigeon droppings, which stimulates the immune response in the body and particularly impacts lungs.”
“Pigeons are sometimes called flying rats. If humans are artificially increasing the population through feeding, which is creating problems for other people, then clearly one cannot argue that the feeding can be equated with doing good,” said Dr Abi Vanak, director of the Centre for Policy Design at the Bengaluru-based ATREE.
The State of India’s Birds report in 2023 showed that between 2000 and 2023, the pigeon population in India escalated more than 150%.
The report also suggested that pigeons have “successfully adapted to live in human habitation to nest on human structures, and to feed on whatever humans provide”.
“People tend to like pigeons because they get domesticated easily, and keep returning to the person who feeds them grains,” said a pigeon seller in Chandni Chowk’s kabootar bazaar to scroll.
“No other bird gives that kind of loyalty,” he added, saying that people believe it’s a good deed to feed pigeons.
Scientists believe that spreading awareness about the harmful effects of pigeon droppings is the best way to curb the spread of disease.