Pigeons and peritonitis?

We report an outbreak of fungal peritonitis due to Candida parapsilosis in 12 patients undergoing chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). All 12 patients were treated by removal of the CAPD catheter together with systemic antifungal therapy. There were no peritonitis-related deaths. Four patients were successfully returned to CAPD at a later date. Microbiological investigation during the outbreak demonstrated colonization of various areas of the CAPD Unit and medical ward with the organism. C. parapsilosis was also isolated from pigeon guano obtained from window-sills. The number of cases of peritonitis due to this organism decreased markedly after bird-proof netting was installed. We believe that this is the first report of an outbreak of CAPD peritonitis due to faecal carriage of C. parapsilosis by pigeons.