Epidemiology of non-Tubercular Chronic Pneumonic Lung Illnesses in India Pigeon Poops & Damp Kitchens Pose Public Health Challenge

Abstract

Chronic Lung infections present a distinct paradigm in infection pathogenesis which often challenge conventional notions of bacterial or viral virulence and host defenses. Two such chronic non tubercular infections are Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Pneumonia (PAP), and Chronic Hypersensitivity Pneumonia due to longtime exposure to pigeon’s poop (CHPPP). The pigeons are viewed as 'benign city friends', but they carry with them serious health risks to some individuals. Fine dust in pigeon droppings and feathers induce a condition referred to as hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which progressively destroys the lungs. Some people are facing long-term health risks, in cities with large pigeon populations, pigeon feeding habits & exposure to their poops for long durations, in cities like Delhi, Bengaluru & Mumbai. The Bombay High Court, India on Thursday the 7 August 2025, hearing a bunch of petitions filed by people who feed pigeons challenging the civic body's decision to ban such feeding and closure of Kabutarkhanas, decide that it is the State Government & Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to take an informed decision to ensure that the constitutional rights of every citizen are upheld.

Similarly, increasing dependence on cooks’ support and patients in hospitals, develop specific types of Pneumonias. P. aeruginosa bacteria commonly found in outdoors- soil & water, can infect cooks working in unhygienic kitchens or hospital patients to make them sick. In both these conditions most, healthy people are not affected, but some individuals develop flu-like symptoms, including cough, fever, chills, or shortness of breath, following exposure. If prolonged contact is maintained, chronic pneumonitis develops, makes breathing harder and, in extreme cases, result in lung failure. Affected individuals remain unaware of premonitory symptoms, like repeated coughing, breathlessness, chest pain, and tiredness>Even the general practitioners misconstrue symptoms such as asthma or allergies or TB. Over time individuals are plagued by these symptoms regularly or feel greater fatigue & poorer exercise tolerance.