Pigeon pill introduced in Spain
The Catalan town of Badia del Valles will use three automatic dispensers to scatter the 10gm of Ovistop, a product made of corn seeds covered in Nicarbazin which acts as a contraceptive pill for pigeons.
One pair of birds can produce 50 pigeons per year, and authorities in Badia del Valles installed the first dispenser on 13th July 2015 near the town’s Civil guard headquarters, and other two will be installed on school roofs. Every morning, three automatic dispensers will scatter the required dosage to the pigeon population. The pigeons will be fed until December the birth control pill to compact the high season for pigeon breeding. A normal well fed pigeon dispenses up to 12 kg of droppings per year.
Breathing dust or water droplets containing contaminated bird droppings can lead to the following diseases:
- Psittacosis– this is a rare infectious disease caused by a bacterium called Chlamydia psittaci. Psittacosis mainly associated with parrots and other similar species but does affect other birds, including pigeons. Symptoms are commonly a flu-like illness and pneumonia usually appearing 5-19 days after exposure.
- Salmonella– this may also be present in some bird droppings. It is a bacterial infection that can cause significant diarrhoea.
- Cryptococcal meningitis- a potentially fatal swelling of membranes surrounding the brain.
Erica Richardson (24) from Cana was left blinded after she was exposed to pigeon droppings, after living in a house which had large pigeon faeces in its attic. She developed Cryptococcal meningitis, a fatal swelling of membranes surrounding the brain.