The Ohio River Valley, including Louisville and Southern Indiana, is known for many things: bourbon, horse racing, and beautiful parks. Unfortunately, it is also known as the “Histo Belt”—a region with high rates of Histoplasmosis.

Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by a fungus (Histoplasma capsulatum) that lives in the environment. While it occurs naturally in soil, it thrives in areas enriched with bird or bat droppings.

If you have bats in your attic or birds nesting in your vents, you are hosting a potential breeding ground for this fungus.

How You Get It

The fungus grows on the droppings (guano). When the guano dries out, it becomes crumbly. If it is disturbed—by wind, cleaning, renovation, or even just walking through an attic—microscopic fungal spores are released into the air.

People get histoplasmosis by breathing in these spores. You cannot catch it from another person or an animal; it comes strictly from inhaling the dust.

Symptoms

For many healthy adults, the infection is mild or asymptomatic. However, when symptoms do occur, they appear 3 to 17 days after exposure and often mimic the flu or pneumonia:

• Fever and chills
• Cough and chest pain
• Fatigue
• Body aches

Severe Cases: For infants, the elderly, or people with compromised immune systems (cancer, HIV/AIDS, transplant recipients), the infection can spread from the lungs to other organs (Disseminated Histoplasmosis). This form can be fatal if untreated.

Ocular Histoplasmosis: In some cases, the infection can travel to the eye, causing scarring on the retina that leads to vision loss years later. This is a leading cause of vision loss in the Ohio River Valley region.

Where is the Risk in Your Home?

• Attics: Piles of bat guano under roosting sites.
• Barns/Sheds: Accumulated bird droppings from pigeons or starlings.
• Soil: Dirt under roosting trees or near chicken coops.
• HVAC Systems: If birds nest in vents, spores can be blown into the home.

Prevention and Safety

1. Do Not Disturb: If you find a pile of droppings in your attic, do not sweep it or vacuum it with a standard shop vac. This will blast spores into the air.
2. Professional Exclusion: The best prevention is to keep bats and birds out of your home. Seal entry points and install chimney caps.
3. Proper Cleanup: Cleanup of large amounts of guano requires professional remediation. This involves:
   • Negative air pressure containment.
   • HEPA filtration.
   • Full PPE (respirators, suits).
   • Dampening the waste before removal to suppress dust.

If you suspect you have a bat colony or bird infestation, contact Critter Removal of Louisville. We don’t just remove the animals; we safely remediate the biohazard they leave behind.