14th July 2005, 02:43 PM
The problems of Health and Safety and pigeons.....A few years back I was a union safety rep and we had a problem with pigeons getting into a warehouse used for storing archaeological finds. The problem wasn't just the pigeon droppings (which were cleared when the pigeons were removed) but also the pigeon mites, which lacking a source of pigeon, moved onto a human host. If I remember correctly, one of the archaeologists infected developed some kind of brain infection as a result of being bitten by the pigeon mites and was quite ill for some time.
I believe that the potential problems with pigeon mites are closely related to the diseases that can be contracted through contact with ticks, such as Lymes disease. I personally think that tick and mite contact is a far greater risk to archaeologists than problems with pigeons, but I have only once in 20 years seen a UK archaeological risk assessment that mentions the possibility (well done Norfolk Archaeological Unit!!), although it seems to be a commonly accepted risk elsewhere in Europe and the US.
I believe that the potential problems with pigeon mites are closely related to the diseases that can be contracted through contact with ticks, such as Lymes disease. I personally think that tick and mite contact is a far greater risk to archaeologists than problems with pigeons, but I have only once in 20 years seen a UK archaeological risk assessment that mentions the possibility (well done Norfolk Archaeological Unit!!), although it seems to be a commonly accepted risk elsewhere in Europe and the US.