At his clinic in the northern suburbs of Mumbai, Dr. Pralhad Prabhudesai stares at X-rays, flips through medical records and fires off a series of questions to the patient in front of him.
“Are you often around pigeons? What else are you exposed to?”
The pulmonologist is part of a group of doctors working in India’s most populous city. They are increasingly alarmed by what they have observed over the past seven years: a five-fold increase in cases of a severe inflammation of the lungs called hypersensitivity pneumonitis.
This is a sudden spike that experts believe is directly linked to the explosion in Mumbai’s pigeon population. Bird droppings contain fungi that can cause immune system disorders if inhaled over a long period of time.
“This is a frightening, progressive condition,” Dr. Prabhudesai said in an interview with CBC News, adding that in chronic cases, hypersensitivity pneumonitis can cause irreversible scarring of the lungs, requiring patients to receive a continuous supply of oxygen. He added that there is. It may also lead to a lung transplant.
“There are over 300 causes of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. [exposure to] Pigeons are one of them,” Prabhudesai said. “The most important thing is that this is the most common cause of disease in our country.”
There are several other causes, including allergens in grains, feathers, and improperly maintained air conditioning units. Recent the study Monitoring of newly diagnosed cases in India revealed that exposure to birds was the cause. First link For chronic diseases.
Experts are calling for more data to be collected, and the Indian Council of Medical Research has now developed a registry to track cases and identified causes of lung disease.
The problem of feeding pigeons
The problem is acute in India’s most densely populated city, Mumbai. Mumbai has millions of apartment buildings with flat surfaces where pigeons like to roost. The city also has a strong cultural tradition of feeding birds for religious reasons, including the deep-rooted belief that caring for pigeons brings blessings and helps wash away a person’s sins. .
Mumbai is known for: Kabutarkanas, designated feeding parks are often located near temples and other places of worship, where thousands of pigeons gather and are fed. It’s not uncommon to see people dragging large bags of grain and pouring it in front of the birds.
“In Mumbai, there’s a lot of feeding going on near homes, near temples… wherever you go,” Prabhudesai said.
He often answers questions from his patients about whether pigeon repellents or other techniques have been developed to keep pigeons out of their homes.
‘I did not understand’
“Patient awareness [of the danger of pigeons] “It’s started to increase in the last five years,” he said, but many feel helpless “because they’re very stubborn birds.”
For Namrata Trivedi, the diagnosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis came completely out of the blue, having only returned to work last year after battling the disease for more than 10 years.
She began experiencing difficulty breathing and a persistent dry cough in 2011, but a series of doctors couldn’t figure out her symptoms.
“When I looked at the CT scan X-ray, I saw a black layer all over my lungs,” she told CBC News in an interview in Gujarati.
“The doctor looked my husband and mother in the face and told me I had three years to live.”
Trivedi, 57, often feeds pigeons, and one of his previous homes had a large nest of pigeons on the windowsill. Still, she was stunned when her lung disease was diagnosed as being caused by pigeon droppings.
“I had no idea, I was completely unaware,” she said. “I remember thinking, how could pigeons cause so much trouble? There’s no way that could be possible.”
Trivedi defied doctors’ predictions and although her condition is now under control, she still experiences occasional pain in her lungs and must take precautions to avoid large crowds when she goes out.
A hairstylist wants more people in Mumbai to know how deadly pigeon droppings can be.
“People don’t understand that feeding pigeons is ‘Jeev Daya” Trivedi said, using a Hindi and Gujarati term that means to help and show compassion to all living things, including animals.
“But humans are worth helping too,” she added, saying it was heartbreaking to see children suffer because people around them insisted on feeding the birds.
It’s hard to avoid pigeons
Prakash Punjabi, 68, who was diagnosed last year with a chronic lung disease caused by exposure to pigeon droppings, is trying to cope with the same physical and mental pain.
He spends at least four days a week exercising at a rehabilitation center adjacent to Prabhu Desai’s clinic in north Mumbai, often hooked up to an oxygen machine.
“It’s very difficult,” he said while on the treadmill, gasping for oxygen. “It’s hard to breathe through my nose and I’m tired all day.”
Although Punjabis did not have the habit of feeding pigeons, he and his doctors suspected that he contracted the disease by spending a lot of time at home during the coronavirus lockdown. There is.
“There are a lot of pigeons where I stay,” he explained. “There’s a grill and aluminum [siding] This is where pigeons dance all day long. ”
These days, Punjabis don’t leave their homes without wearing masks to protect themselves from dust and pigeon droppings, he said, but for Mumbaians, it’s often difficult to avoid masks. Kabutarkanas.
“People have a religious belief that if you feed them, they will be blessed with pigeons. You can’t ban it, you can’t do anything about it,” he continued. “But people have to be very careful when dealing with this [pigeons]. ”
Technically, the city of Mumbai imposes a fine of 500 rupees ($8 Canadian) for feeding pigeons in undesignated areas, but residents say the ordinance is rarely enforced.
It’s up to thoracic surgeons like Prabhu Desai to sound the alarm and repeat the same advice over and over again.
“We always want to say to people: ‘First of all, stop feeding the pigeons.’
