Pigeon-Breeders' Lung

Abstract

Three patients had many episodes of an acute interstitial pneumonitis after exposure to pigeons which they bred as a hobby. Laboratory examinations showed leukocytosis and elevated γ-globulin, but no evidence of specific infections. Inhalation of pigeon feathers or aerosols of pigeon droppings or serum in the hospital reproduced an episode of the disease. Each patient had high titers of precipitating antibody to extracts of pigeon feathers or droppings and to pigeon serum or egg. Skin tests with these antigens produced neither immediate nor delayed reactions. The disease is considered to be of allergic origin, similar to the illness produced by other antigens in farmers' lung, bagassosis, mushroom-pickers' disease, and maple-bark strippers' disease.