The Prevalence of "Pigeon Breeder's Disease" in a Turkish City and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is a rarely encountered inflammatory interstitial lung disease caused by various antigens. Studies in the literature report contradictory rates about its prevalence. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of "pigeon breeder's disease" (PBD) among pigeon breeders in Samsun province. The present study was performed in two phases. In the first phase, we contacted the Samsun Serinofil Association (Samsun Serinofil Dernegi) and a detailed questionnaire was given to the pigeon breeders to fill out. In the second phase, advanced diagnostic tests such as chest X-ray, high-resolution chest computed tomography, pulmonary function tests, natural provocation, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) were used to verify the diagnosis in those suspected with PBL. The questionnaire was administered to 185 male volunteers, of whom 11 had suspicious findings. Of eight subjects in whom the natural provocation was performed, one had a positive (acute PBL) response. After discontinuation of exposure, clinical improvement was observed in the second subject (subacute HP), of whom the radiological findings, BAL, and TBLB results were consistent with PBL. The third subject, who had dyspnea for 28 years, was diagnosed with chronic PBL. Consequently, the prevalence of PBL and the positivity of the natural provocation were 1.6 and 12.5%, respectively. In the present study, in which the prevalence of PBL was determined using natural provocation for the first time, the prevalence of HP (1.6%) was quite low compared with previous studies. The present study has demonstrated that a study solely based on a questionnaire is not adequate in determining the prevalence of HP.