Can yeast spread throughout body: Invasive Candidiasis | Candidiasis | Types of Fungal Diseases | Fungal Diseases
Are Yeast Infections Contagious? During Sex, in Bath Water, More
Overview
Yeast infections are caused by an overgrowth of the Candida albicans fungus, which is naturally found in your body. These infections can cause inflammation, discharge, and other symptoms. Both men and women can get genital yeast infections, though they are more common in women.
Yeast infections aren’t considered a sexually transmitted infection (STI), because many people (including babies and children) who get them have never had sex. But there are ways that yeast infections can be transmitted from one person to another. Keep reading to find out which behaviors put you at the most risk of spreading a yeast infection.
If you’re wondering if you can transmit your yeast infection to a partner through sex, the short answer is: Yes, you can. While it isn’t common, it’s not rare, either. About 15 percent of men will experience symptoms of a penile yeast infection after sexual intercourse with an infected female partner.
If both partners are female, it’s possible to pass a yeast infection from one partner to another, but more research is needed into how likely this is to occur.
A man with a penile yeast infection can also transmit his infection to a female partner through sexual contact.
An overgrowth of Candida in the mouth is also called thrush. Thrush can be contracted through oral sex with a person with a vaginal or penile yeast infection. Learn more about how thrush is spread.
While you weigh the risk of transmitting a yeast infection to a partner, you may also want to consider that having sex with a yeast infection can be very uncomfortable. Sex with penetration from a penis or a sex toy can:
- irritate inflammation
- disrupt any creams or medications you’re using to treat your infection
- result in a longer infection time
It’s unlikely that a yeast infection can be transmitted directly through bath water, but there are some caveats that you should keep in mind.
As a rule, showers are better than baths when you’re in the process of treating a yeast infection. If you do take a sitz bath with Epsom salt, apple cider vinegar, boric acid, or any other home remedy while you’re treating your yeast infection, don’t soak for more than 10 minutes at a time. Also make sure to pat the area of the infection completely dry once you’re out of the water.
Avoid sexual intimacy in a bath or hot tub when either partner has a yeast infection. The conditions of sex in a water environment might make it easier for a yeast infection to spread through sex.
If two young children are bathing together and one has a yeast infection, be careful not to use the same cloth or sponge to wash them both. If possible, avoid bathing your child at all when they have a yeast infection, opting for quick showers and sponge baths instead.
Keep in mind that scented soaps or bubble bath may irritate or prolong yeast infections.
You can transmit Candida fungus to a partner through kissing. But that doesn’t mean that they’ll develop thrush as a result.
Thrush happens when risk factors, like taking antibiotics or having a suppressed immune system, throw off your body’s natural balance of Candida albicans flora. So while kissing a person with thrush might contribute to having more Candida to deal with, it won’t necessarily infect you. Remember that our bodies naturally have Candida.
Infants can get thrush from their mothers while breastfeeding. Since Candida is present on your nipples and breasts, breastfeeding causes babies to have excess yeast in their mouths, which commonly results in thrush. Women can also get yeast infections from breastfeeding.
Keep these tips in mind to prevent getting further yeast infections:
- wear loose-fitting, cotton underwear
- change out of your swimsuit immediately after spending time in the pool
- cut down on the amount of carbohydrates and processed food in your diet
- only use antibiotics when necessary (and follow up with a round of probiotics if you do have to take them)
- avoid using menstrual products that are scented
- use fragrance-free soaps
- keep your vaginal area clean with warm water only, and never use a douche
- urinate immediately following sex
If you’re getting more than four yeast infections a year, you need to speak with your doctor. It may be that you have another underlying cause that needs to be treated. Or you may not actually have a yeast infection after all, in which case you’ll need a different course of treatment. Recurrent yeast infections should be diagnosed and treated by a gynecologist.
About Invasive Candidiasis (IC) – MN Dept. of Health
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Invasive Candidiasis (IC)
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- Candida Home
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- Healthcare-Associated Infections
- Hand Hygiene
Invasive Candidiasis (IC)
- IC Home
- About IC
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Related Topics
- Candida Home
- Infection Prevention & Control
- Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship
- Healthcare-Associated Infections
- Hand Hygiene
On this page:
About IC
Tracking IC infections
Transmission
People most at risk
More about IC and antimicrobial resistance
About Invasive Candidiasis (IC)
- Candida is a type of yeast that is normally found in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and on people’s skin.
- In individuals with certain underlying conditions, Candida can cause a serious infection called invasive candidiasis (IC).
- Most cases of IC are health care-associated infections (HAIs). An estimated 46,000 cases of IC occur each year in the United States.
- Infections can occur in the bloodstream (an infection called candidemia), heart, brain, eyes, bones, and other deep tissue and organ sites in the body.
- Candidemia is the most common form of IC and is among the most common types of HAI bloodstream infections.
- Antifungal medication is required to treat IC.
- Antifungal resistance in Candida is a growing threat.
- In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described fluconazole-resistant Candida as a serious hazard in its list of antimicrobial resistant threats with the most impact on human health.
Tracking IC infections
- MDH began conducting surveillance for IC on January 1, 2017 in the 7-county metro area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington Counties).
- Surveillance for IC includes only candidemia; other invasive Candida infections are not reportable at this time.
Transmission
- Most infections of IC occur when Candida normally found on the patient is introduced into a normally sterile site through the disruption of skin or the lining of the GI tract. Some skin or GI disruptions that can be associated with IC include the presence of indwelling invasive devices, abdominal surgeries, and chemotherapy-induced mucosal barrier injury.
- IC is generally not transmitted person-to-person, but occasionally Candida can be spread via health care workers’ hands or contaminated medical devices. Some species of Candida are more likely than others to be transmitted in this manner.
People most at risk
- IC most commonly occurs in people who have:
- Suppressed immune systems
- Frequent or prolonged stays in health care settings, particularly in intensive care units
- Invasive medical devices such as intravenous catheters
- History of taking certain antibiotics for long periods of time
- Received major abdominal surgery
- Healthy people usually do not get invasive infections caused by Candida.
More about IC and antimicrobial resistance
- Invasive Candidiasis, CDC
CDC resources and statistics on IC. - Antimicrobial Resistance
Information about antimicrobial resistance
Tags
- candidiasis
Last Updated: 10/05/2022
Essays: Yeast is a killer of people’s health “Perunitsa
Lines of Krylov’s Fable “ The Snake and the Lamb “:
https://vsebasni.ru/krylov/zmeya-i-ovtca.html
“ З mea (yeast ) lay under the deck (in the intestines) And was angry (radiated dark energies of evil) at the whole world (human) ; 0003 : created so it is (yeast) nature (Illuminati) .
Lamb (human) frolicking and jumping in the vicinity (lived his usual life) ; He did not think about the Snake (yeast and its harm to health) at all.
Here, crawling out, she (yeast) into him (in human health) sticks a sting (destroys his intestines) : All the blood from the poison (dark energies of evil) in him (intestines) burns (yeast poison spreads throughout the body, destroying human health) .
“What did I do to you?” – To the snake (yeast) he says.
“Who knows? – Snake hisses to him (yeast) . –
Out of caution (so that you are not healthy) you (human) I punish. ”
When the destructive era of artificial yeast began…
Back in 1939, the Nazis of Nazi Germany created the first artificial yeast from cadaveric tissues – thermophilic yeast to feed German soldiers. At first, such yeast showed itself very well, because thanks to them, bread was baked several times more.But soon this yeast showed a side effect – the soldiers began to become seriously ill, leave the army and grow old quickly.The cause of all these diseases was thermophilic yeast, which had a detrimental effect on the intestines, and pathogenic microbes spread from it throughout the body, because the code of death was laid in them. In Germany, thermophilic yeast was banned, and their manufacturing technology was donated to the Soviet Union to weaken the Russian army and the Soviet people before the war 1941-1945 years.
After US President Eisenhower concluded the Separate Agreement with the Gray Zeta Grids of the Orion galaxy in 1954, the USA received alien technologies for the manufacture of chemical food products. Among them was a recipe for chemical yeast. It is they who, since the 70s of the last century, have replaced natural yeast, as well as thermophilic ones. And although the chemical yeast did not contain death codes, it also severely destroyed the intestines, so people fell ill with serious body diseases, the result of which was the development of cancer of the intestine or any other organ.
What yeast is made of and what harmful effect it has on the body…
The basis of yeast is a fungus, a parasite that reproduces only in a dark, energetically de-energized environment. This alone already suggests that for the beneficial existence of the fungus in the body, the immune system must be weakened, and it must be contaminated. To improve the environment of its parasitic habitat, the fungus secretes mucus in which it multiplies, spreading in all directions. It is very difficult to remove such a mycelium from the body, because for this a person must be healthy. At small doses, the fungus can still benefit the body, because everything requires a measure.
Plant fungus, which formed the basis for the production of natural yeast from hops and malt, can be harmful to health only if it is consumed in excess, because it causes oxidation of the intestinal microflora, fermentation and rotting of food. All this weakens the Immune System and the body remains defenseless against the harmful environment in which Our man lives. For our civilized world is polluted with chemical waste in the air, in water and on earth, which greatly weakens the immune system and mental abilities of a person.
The thermophilic yeast that the Nazis created was made from a fungus grown on cadaver tissue/bones. Such yeast quickly destroys the intestines and those organs into which they enter from the digestive tract, so the wear and tear of the internal tissue of the body increases many times, which is why the body quickly grows old. All this causes a malfunction in the body and metabolic disorders at the cellular level. And most importantly, because of the cadaveric gene in a person, his DNA changes and he begins to mutate, because the cells of his body change their vector to a foreign one.
Chemical yeast is made from an artificial fungus that is grown with chemical compounds to speed up its growth. Instead of yeast, molasses is often used – a by-product of sugar production, which is bleached with bleach. Sulfuric acid is used to acidify it and match the yeast. All this is a poison that kills the body slowly but surely. No person in their right mind would use poison. But when buying food products that contain yeast: bread / confectionery, beer / wine and kvass, people ingest poison. It kills their body and promotes the formation of sand and stones in the bladder, kidneys, liver, and so on.
What aggravates the harm caused to the body by artificial yeast…
The ecology of our world greatly weakens the body, because many chemical emissions are produced into the atmosphere and rivers, and passive methods of water purification and air filtration cannot cope with the flow of chemical particles. But most of all, chemical drugs / food ruin the health of the body. The human body begins to break down even in the womb, so children are born with a weakened immune system or with pathologies. From the first days of their lives, they are already infected with chemical vaccines in order to prepare them for the use of poison in drinks and food, the basis of which is yeast.
The detrimental effect of yeast on the body increases due to:
+ Chemical medicines that a person uses regularly. And even if this does not happen daily, they still create oxidation in the body, in which pathogenic microbes can freely multiply, spreading in all directions. Such a pathogenic environment is favorable for the development of diseases.
+ Foods and drinks that are made from chemical ingredients, because they are aimed at extinguishing people’s health and getting them hooked on drugs. They are, for example, a flavor enhancer – monosodium glutamate, without which this food could not be put into the mouth. Food that has this flavor enhancer is always wanted by people, which is why it is bought so often.
The urban environment further aggravates people’s health. Chemical smog is constantly present in it, which kills people’s health around the clock. Chemical particles that a person breathes in the city emit plants and factories, assorted cars / motorcycles. City nightlife also does not allow the body to recover, because a person cannot relax for a night’s rest, which is why the wear and tear of his body greatly increases, and life spans are reduced.
! Like always attracts like – the chemical will only be attracted to the chemical. If the microflora of the body consists of chemical particles that poison it, then any decrease in them will cause hunger, poor health and a desire to “eat nasty things.” A person will intuitively choose in the store only those chemical products that most of all contain the missing parts of the poison, because the body has become addicted to them.
Everything that is not included in the category of chemical food and drinks is rejected by a person and his body, especially if it is pure natural products / water. This can only be avoided by completely switching to a natural diet. But at first, you will have to endure the breakdown of the body, so replacing one product with another should be gradual, and not all at once.
What will people come to, taking into account the Changes that are taking place in our world…
Since 2012 / 2015 / 2017, our world has been in a period of Changes that concern only the politics and economies of countries. But soon the turn will come to issues of health and Change in world nutrition. The chemical production of products will completely sink into oblivion, and new food products made from natural ingredients will come in its place. There will be many new food technologies based on natural ingredients. Many ancient recipes will return to production, and in particular for the production of yeast-free bread, natural beer, wine and kvass on malt and hops, which have taken care of human health since ancient times.
Natural ingredients used to make essential foodstuffs will bring a lot of health to people. The natural components of natural products will begin to activate the healing processes in the body, because they contain all the useful vitamins and minerals that help the body recover. People will only have to focus on proper nutrition, so that the beneficial properties of natural products help each other, and do not interfere. Where moderation in food intake will help the body recover faster and heal itself due to more complete absorption of food. Thanks to natural nutrition, there will be fewer sick people in the world, and more healthy people. Diseases will leave the bodies and people will stop living in suffering. Refusal of food products with chemical ingredients will increase the efficiency of the brain, enhancing innate abilities, so there will be more spiritually developed people in the world. Less money will be spent by people on food, because you can’t eat a lot of natural products, which means that the well-being of families will begin to increase. People will then have more opportunities to live according to their Interests without worrying about tomorrow.
Our world is changing, people are changing in it, so all countries now have the opportunity to revolutionize food and its production. A new world is coming and a better life for people. It is only necessary to Believe in the best and Hope for a good future, in which all people are healthy and have proper nutrition. For in the new future there is no longer a place for chemical ingredients that adversely affect health, and in particular for artificial yeast that the Illuminati created to enslave the peoples of our world. Since 2012 / 2017, our world has been making progress in trying to become Free from the Dark influence of our past, which has already begun to fade from our lives. Therefore, the task of all people is to Help our world to change, and for this you need to start with yourself and your diet.
Maitreya Ragnarok, 2018
bird flu, ornithosis, salmonellosis, histoplasmosis, campylobacteriosis
Medicine and health
Including from domestic and decorative
Daniil Davydov
medical journalist
Author profile
People can get bacterial, viral and fungal infections from birds.
In total, there are several dozen “bird” infections, but in this article we have collected only those that the average Russian has a risk of encountering.
What diseases will we tell about
- Histoplasmosis
- Campylobacteriosis
- Cryptococcosis
- Ornithosis
- Avian influenza
- Salmonella lez
- Escherichiosis
Go to the doctor
Our articles are written with love for evidence-based medicine. We refer to authoritative sources and go to doctors with a good reputation for comments. But remember: the responsibility for your health lies with you and your doctor. We don’t write prescriptions, we make recommendations. Relying on our point of view or not is up to you.
Histoplasmosis
What is it. An infectious disease that infects about half a million people worldwide each year. The disease is caused by the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum.
What is histoplasmosis – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC
How you get infected. Neither domestic nor wild birds suffer from histoplasmosis. But their feces are rich in nitrogen, which is necessary for the growth of free-living forms of the fungus, which form colonies in the environment and reproduce with the help of spores.
In general, people become infected if they visit places where there are many birds and where a large amount of bird droppings accumulate, such as chicken coops, dovecotes or attics of buildings. If a person inhales spores, then in his body at a body temperature of +37 ° C, histoplasm will turn into a parasitic form – yeast. From the lungs, yeast can enter the lymphatic vessels and spread throughout the body.
Who gets infected more often. Anyone can get sick, but adults over 65, infants, and people with weakened immune systems are most at risk.
Symptoms of the disease. Most healthy adults who inhale the fungus do not get sick as the immune system handles the yeast.
Symptoms of histoplasmosis – CDC
However, about 5% of people who inhale the spores develop flu-like symptoms 3 to 17 days later:
- fever +38°C or higher;
- severe weakness;
- headache;
- cough and chest pain;
- pain in the body.
The main difference between histoplasmosis and influenza is that the symptoms last longer: from several weeks to a month. After that, most recover, but in people at risk, the disease can develop into a long-term lung infection or spread to other parts of the body, such as the brain or spinal cord.
What to do if you suspect an illness. For flu-like symptoms, call your doctor at home and follow his instructions. On average, the flu lasts a week. If the disease does not go away during this period, the doctor will look for other causes of the disease. People who, shortly before the onset of symptoms, visited places where they could come into contact with bird droppings, are prescribed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of blood or urine for histoplasmosis.
Histoplasmosis usually clears up on its own within a month. But to avoid complications, people at risk may need specialized treatment. The disease is treated with antifungal drugs: mild to moderate infections are usually treated with itraconazole, and severe with amphotericin B.
How is histoplasmosis treated – MSD Medical Handbook
Depending on the severity of the infection and the state of immunity human treatment may take from three months to a year.
How not to get infected. Most citizens need to avoid attics, rooftops, and dovecotes. But if you keep decorative birds at home, it is important to ensure that their cages are always clean and that droppings do not accumulate there.
It is important for people who live outside the city who breed poultry to follow the rules of its maintenance: keep the chicken coop or dovecote away from home, enter them only in special shoes that are not worn in the house, and regularly clean the premises where birds are kept in order to litter did not accumulate.
To prevent fungus spores from being released into the air, spray the floor with water before cleaning. But to make sure you don’t inhale histoplasma spores, it’s safer to work in a respirator that covers your nose and mouth.
Campylobacteriosis
What is it. A common infectious gastrointestinal disease that infects every tenth person in the world every year. The disease is caused by bacteria from the genus Campylobacter.
What is campylobacteriosis – CDC
How they get infected. Campylobacteriosis affects not only humans, but also animals, including domestic and wild birds. As a rule, people become infected by the fecal-oral route – that is, if they accidentally swallow the smallest particles of animal feces that contain bacteria. More often this happens when drinking unboiled water, unpasteurized milk, or improperly cooked meat.
But you can get infected directly from domestic or wild birds. To do this, it is not enough to wash your hands, stroke a bird, clean its cage, or work in a chicken coop or dovecote.
Who gets infected more often. Any person who interacts with birds or eats improperly cooked meat can get sick. But more often the disease develops in children under 5 years of age, people over 65 years of age and in those who have a weakened immune system: for example, people with uncontrolled HIV infection and congenital immunodeficiency.
Who is most commonly infected with campylobacteriosis – MSD
Symptoms of begin 2 to 5 days after infection and last a week on average. Campylobacter causes inflammation of the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, so the symptoms are typical of gastroenteritis:
- temperature from +38 °С;
- headache;
- abdominal pain and cramps;
- diarrhea: usually watery, sometimes bloody;
- nausea and vomiting.
Sometimes Campylobacter causes not diarrhea, but meningitis – inflammation of the meninges, endocarditis – inflammation of the inner lining of the heart, fever of unknown origin, and arthritis that affects the knees. In this case, the symptoms last from a week to several months.
What to do if you suspect a disease . As a rule, in adults, symptoms resolve without treatment in 3-7 days. All you need to do is drink clean water, eat small meals and rest.
But if gastroenteritis does not resolve within three days, or if a child, a pregnant woman, or a person over 65 has symptoms, see a doctor as soon as possible to avoid dehydration. We wrote in detail about how to act before the arrival of the doctor in the article “Is it true that children at sea become infected with rotavirus?”.
How not to get infected. It is important to observe the rules for the safe use, preparation and storage of food:
- drink only purified water and pasteurized milk;
- cook meat and poultry until the minimum core temperature is +74°C;
- store raw poultry and meat in the refrigerator separately from other foods;
- use a separate board for cutting meat products;
- wash hands before and after preparing food, after going to the toilet and before eating.
In order not to catch campylobacteriosis from wild or domestic birds, after any contact with them and with surfaces that may have been contaminated with droppings, it is necessary to wash your hands under running water and soap. This should always be done: even if the birds look healthy and clean, they can still transmit Campylobacter to humans.
Cryptococcosis
What is it. An infectious disease caused by a fungus of the genus Cryptococcus neoformans. Every year, about a million people worldwide become infected with cryptococcosis.
What is Cryptococcosis – CDC
How People Get Cryptococcosis and Who Gets Most Often – Center for Food Security and Public Health, CFSPH PDF, 662KB
How they get infected. Most people with cryptococcosis have never been in contact with birds. Most likely, they became infected by inhaling spores from the environment. However, people have been known to become infected after being exposed to the droppings of pigeons and some poultry, including chickens, parrots and canaries.
Some researchers believe that cryptococci can temporarily settle in the bird’s intestines and get into litter from it, while others are inclined to believe that the fungus receives the nutrients necessary for growth from bird litter and forms spore-forming colonies – therefore, you can become infected even through contact with the faeces of healthy birds.
Who gets infected more often. Humans become infected with cryptococcosis in much the same way as with histoplasmosis. However, the human immune system deals with Cryptococcus more easily than with Histoplasma: if the spores of this fungus are inhaled by healthy people without chronic diseases, the immune system, as a rule, successfully destroys them.
In some cases, surviving yeast can form granulomas, small lumps in the lungs and lymph nodes. They can become a source of re-infection if the host’s immunity decreases in the future.
Cryptococcus neoformans is thought to be especially dangerous for people with weakened immune systems. If they inhale spores or encapsulated yeast forms of the fungus, the pathogen begins to multiply in the lungs and can spread throughout the body – for example, penetrate the brain and provoke cryptococcal meningitis, that is, inflammation of the meninges.
Symptoms of the disease. Many people who contract cryptococcosis have no symptoms at all. In other cases, how a person will feel will depend on which part of the body the cryptococci settled in.
Symptoms of Cryptococcosis – CDC
A fungus that lives in the lungs can cause pneumonia-like symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, chest pain and fever. If Cryptococcus settles in the brain, symptoms of meningitis occur: severe headache, neck pain, nausea and vomiting, intolerance to light, confusion, and high fever.
What to do if you suspect an illness. If a person with a weakened immune system experiences symptoms that resemble pneumonia or meningitis, they should tell their doctor as soon as possible.
How not to get infected. Since Cryptococcus neoformans is widely distributed in the environment, contact with it is not considered to be entirely preventable. But if, after any interaction with birds, always wash your hands under running water with soap and avoid places where bird feces accumulate, including those areas of parks or squares where flocks of pigeons often spend the night, a person with a weakened immune system can reduce the risk of developing this disease.
For the same reason, it is better to limit the number of pigeons in the yards of residential buildings – close the gaps in the attics and make sure that the garbage containers are closed with lids or located in sheds fenced on all sides. Of course, this cannot be done by the efforts of individual residents of apartment buildings, but at least it is better not to feed the birds in your yard and explain to your neighbors why this is a bad idea.
How to get rid of pigeons on the balcony?
Ornithosis
What is it. Occupational infectious disease most commonly contracted by people who come into contact with birds: employees of zoos, pet shops and poultry farms, breeders and pet lovers. The disease is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci.
What is psittacosis – Medscape International Medical Handbook
How it gets infected. Ornithosis affects both wild and domestic birds – but more often people become infected from ornamental birds, such as parrots. The easiest way to get infected is by inhaling particles of dry droppings that contain bacteria. Once in the lungs, the bacteria invade the cells of the mucous membranes and cause a pulmonary infection. At the same time, cases are described when people fell ill after they stroked a sick bird, if the bird pecked them or after contact of the beak with the mouth – for example, if a person kissed a pet.
Who gets infected more often. Anyone with recent contact with birds can become ill.
Who suffers from ornithosis – UpToDate
Symptoms of the disease. Some people are asymptomatic. But for most, signs of the disease appear 5-14 days after inhaling the bacteria. As a rule, psittacosis resembles influenza or coronavirus disease: with this disease, fever, severe headache and dry cough suddenly begin. In some cases, people complain of sweating, muscle pain, shortness of breath and chest pain.
Most healthy adults with psittacosis have a mild or moderate illness and recover in about 7-10 days. But people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and the elderly are more likely to get sick in a severe form and they may develop complications – from pneumonia to myocarditis and encephalitis.
What to do if you suspect an illness. If you experience flu-like symptoms, call your doctor at home and follow his recommendations. If you are in contact with birds at work or have them at home, tell your doctor about it. If he suspects that you have ornithosis, he will prescribe an enzyme immunoassay for this disease. If the diagnosis is confirmed, the doctor may prescribe an antibiotic to be taken for 7-10 days to avoid complications.
How not to get infected. Generally, infected birds have poor appetite, inflamed eyes, labored breathing, and diarrhea—but in some cases they may appear healthy. Here’s what will help you not get infected:
- if possible, avoid close contact even with healthy birds, and if this does happen, be sure to wash your hands or face with running water and soap. If a bird has pecked or scratched you, be sure to wash the affected area under running water and soap for at least 5 minutes and treat the wound properly. We wrote in detail about how to do this in the article “How dangerous are cat scratches and bites?”;
- Clean the cages as often as possible and wash the food and water bowls. You need to do this with a mask and gloves. To prevent dust and feathers from rising into the air, before cleaning the cage, it makes sense to moisten its floor with water or a disinfectant from a spray bottle;
- place cages at such a distance from each other that feathers and droppings from one cannot get into another;
- be sure to isolate and treat birds that look sick.
Avian influenza
What is it. An infectious disease caused by variants of the influenza A virus that commonly infect birds. In very rare cases, this form of influenza can be transmitted from birds to humans and lead to outbreaks of the disease, but avian influenza is practically not transmitted from person to person.
What is bird flu – MSD
Where does bird flu come from – UpToDate
How do you get infected. Avian influenza A viruses naturally infect wild waterfowl. From wild geese and ducks, the disease can be transmitted to poultry, and from them to people who care for live birds or process their carcasses.
Who gets infected more often. Farmers and employees of poultry farms where an outbreak of avian influenza has occurred are usually affected by avian influenza. In some cases, sellers and buyers in markets where an infected bird can go get sick.
Bird flu is transmitted almost like normal flu: people become infected if they accidentally inhale particles of the virus that got into the air along with the smallest particles of bird feces, or if viruses from feathers, carcasses or walls, floors or perches in poultry houses first get on their hands, and from them – on the mucous membranes of the mouth and eyes of people. It is impossible to become infected by eating properly cooked eggs or poultry products, because when heated, viruses lose their ability to infect people.
Although bird flu outbreaks occur almost every year in poultry, this does not always result in human epidemics. In Russia, cases of human infection with avian influenza are rare. The last time this happened was in February 2021: as a result of an outbreak that began at an Astrakhan poultry farm in December 2020, seven of its employees became infected. All of them have successfully recovered.
Bird flu outbreak in Russia in 2021 – National Health Service England, NHS
Symptoms of the disease. As a rule, the first signs of the disease appear 3-5 days after infection and resemble the common flu. It lasts the same, that is, about a week. However, people who contract the avian form of the disease tend to be more severe than the flu and are more likely to develop complications such as myocarditis and encephalitis.
Globally, from January 2003 to October 5, 2022, there were 865 human cases of human infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus that occurred in 21 countries. Approximately half of the people died.
How many people have been affected by H5N1 avian influenza – WHO PDF, 239 KB
As with the common flu, children under 5 years of age, pregnant women, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to the disease than healthy adults.
What to do if you suspect an illness. Even for Russians who have a lot of contact with birds, the likelihood of getting avian flu is low.
However, the common flu can also be dangerous. If you experience flu-like symptoms, call your doctor at home and follow his recommendations.
“No more dangerous than a cold”: 8 myths about influenza
How not to get infected. To avoid contracting avian influenza, people should avoid contact with wild and domestic birds, especially if they appear lethargic, lose their appetite, suffer from diarrhea, and have swollen heads.
If interaction with such birds cannot be avoided, personal protective equipment must be worn: gloves, rubber boots, a mask and goggles. After working with birds, you need to change clothes and wash your hands thoroughly under running water and soap, and until then avoid touching your face and eyes.
Tourists in Asian countries where bird flu outbreaks are common are generally advised to avoid farms and markets that sell live birds. Under normal conditions, the advice is simple: cook the bird to an internal temperature of +74 ° C and boil the eggs until the whites and yolks become dense, that is, 8-10 minutes from the moment the water boils.
Salmonellosis
What is it. A common infectious gastrointestinal disease that infects every tenth person in the world every year. The disease is caused by bacteria from the genus Salmonella.
What is salmonellosis – CDC
How is contracted. Both humans and birds are ill with salmonellosis, and they are infected by the fecal-oral route. Most often, people get sick after eating improperly cooked food, unboiled water and unpasteurized milk.
Birds are usually infected indirectly, that is, by eating improperly cooked meat. In addition, salmonella can infect the ovaries of chickens and get directly into the eggs. If you eat such an egg raw or undercooked, you can get sick. But you can also get infected from birds by contact with them or with objects that have got bird feces: just stroke the bird and then touch your mouth or eyes with unwashed hands.
Who gets infected more often. Any person who has interacted with wild or domestic birds or has eaten improperly cooked poultry meat or eggs can become ill. But children under 5 years old, the elderly over 65 years old, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to become infected and suffer the disease more severely than adults without chronic diseases.
Symptoms of the disease. Some people get sick without symptoms. In others, 8-72 hours after infection, typical complaints of gastrointestinal infections appear: the temperature rises to +38 ° C and above, weakness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea occur. There is only one difference: due to the fact that food moves too quickly through the large intestine, green bile does not have time to turn brown – so feces with salmonellosis can be frothy and greenish.
Symptoms of salmonellosis in humans – UpToDate
What to do if you suspect the disease. Most people recover without treatment in about a week: fever usually resolves within 48-72 hours and diarrhea within 4-10 days. To get over the disease more easily, adults need to drink clean water, eat small meals and rest.
But if gastroenteritis does not resolve within three days, or if a child, a pregnant woman, or a person over 65 has symptoms, see a doctor as soon as possible to avoid dehydration. We wrote in detail about how to act before the arrival of the doctor in the article “Is it true that children at sea become infected with rotavirus?”.
How not to get infected. In order not to get sick from eating poultry and eggs, it is important to follow the rules of food preparation and storage:
In order not to get infected with salmonella from wild or domestic birds, after any contact with them and with surfaces that may have come into contact with their droppings, you need to wash your hands under running water with soap and water. This should always be done, even if the birds look healthy and clean: not all salmonellosis-infected birds look lethargic and sick.
Escherichiosis
What is it. A common infectious gastrointestinal disease that infects approximately 2.8 million people each year. The disease is caused by some pathogenic species of the bacterium Escherichia coli, or E. coli.
What is escherichiosis – CDC
How people get infected with pathogenic E. coli from birds – CFSPH PDF, 107 KB
How they get infected. Pathogenic E. coli can live in the gastrointestinal tract of many birds without harming them, but if Escherichia coli enters the human body, it can become sick.
People are infected with escherichiosis in the same way as campylobacteriosis or salmonellosis, that is, by the fecal-oral route. Most often, people get sick after eating improperly cooked food, unboiled water and unpasteurized milk.
Birds are usually infected indirectly, that is, by eating improperly cooked meat. But to get sick, it is enough to touch a bird or an object on which bird feces have fallen, and then touch your mouth or eyes with unwashed hands.
Who gets infected more often. Any person who has interacted with wild or domestic birds or has eaten improperly cooked poultry meat can become ill. But children under 5 years old, the elderly over 65 years old, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to become infected and suffer the disease more severely than adults without chronic diseases.
Symptoms of the disease. From birds, humans are most commonly infected with pathogenic E. coli O157:H7. 1-10 days after a person ingests the bacteria, they experience severe stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, often with blood. In some people, the temperature rises to +38. 5 °C.
What to do if you suspect an illness. In healthy adults, diarrhea resolves without treatment in 1-8 days. However, escherichiosis often proceeds severely and quickly leads to dehydration, and in 5-10% of children and the elderly, about a week after the onset of symptoms, a formidable complication can develop – hemolytic-uremic syndrome, in which red blood cells are destroyed erythrocytes and kidney failure occurs.
Therefore, if gastroenteritis does not resolve within three days, or if a child, a pregnant woman, or a person over 65 has symptoms, see a doctor as soon as possible.
How not to get infected. In order not to get sick from eating improperly cooked poultry, it is important to follow the rules of food preparation and storage: