Blind woman warns of pigeon poop exposure danger

[alp227]

A young woman in Fredericton is singing on the street to call attention to the disease that made her blind.

Erica Richards lost her sight last year after developing Cryptococcus meningitis.

Cryptococcus meningitis is a potentially fatal swelling of the membranes surrounding the brain. The disease is caused by fungus that lives in the guts of pigeons and other birds, such as chickens.

People can breathe it in if they're exposed to pigeon droppings.

full: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2012/08/20/nb-erica-richards-disease-pigeons.html

Were those robotic pigeons from planet Zenu as Thom Hartmann would say, stalking that woman?

[trotsky]

1. How sad, but how noble of her to raise awareness.

I knew pigeons carried lots of nasty bugs, didn't know one in particular could do that.

[BadgerKid]

2. Something like this

was on House, M.D. A guy was keeping birds, probably pigeons, on the roof, and somehow contamination ensued.