Urban feral pigeons (Columba livia) as a source for air- and waterborne contamination with Enterocytozoon bieneusi spores.

This study demonstrated that a person with 30 min of occupational or nonoccupational exposure to urban feral pigeons, such as exposure through the cleaning of surfaces contaminated with pigeon excrement, could inhale approximately 3.5 x 10(3) Enterocytozoon bieneusi spores and that 1.3 x 10(3) spores could be inhaled by a nearby person.