THREE AND A HALF years ago, I became a bird owner again. I'd had parakeets as a child and a blue-crown conure after I moved to Virginia. Then for Christmas 2000, my daughter, Melissa, gave me a peach-faced lovebird named Peaches. Not long after that, I was visiting a local bird store when a beautiful little Senegal parrot named Mango spotted me and started dancing and singing. Within days, he had won my heart and a place in household, too.
 | | Linda Card believes black mold growing inside her apartment (shown here in the heating and air conditioning intake) killed her birds and caused her serious health problems. |
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I was thrilled to have birds in my life again. Little did I know I had placed Peaches and Mango, not to mention myself, into a hazardous situation that would cost them their lives and sentence me to a future doomed with health problems.
It all started in September 2000, when I moved into a new apartment. My daughter had just graduated from high school and moved to Richmond, Va., for college. I decided it was time for a fresh start, too.
We had lived in Poquoson, Va., a small town known for its school system, for seven years. Years before, I had worked in Williamsburg, selling timeshares. So that's where I decided to go. It seemed like the ideal place for a single woman looking for a new start in life.
Not wanting to do yard work, I decided to find another townhouse or apartment to live in. I wanted the "free life." Prices where far higher than I had envisioned, but I soon found an apartment complex off Merrimac Trail in Colonial Williamsburg, the famous tourist attraction built as a replica of an 18th-century town.
"Like new"
I didn't much like the outside appearance of the complex, but I was impressed with the remodeled inside of the apartment they showed me. Located on the second floor, it was freshly painted and had new carpet, new appliances and new oak kitchen and bathroom cabinets.
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Inside my apartment, I felt like someone was strangling me, cutting off my air supply.
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How perfect, I thought, for downsizing from a 2,300-square-foot townhouse to a much smaller place of only 1100 square feet. True, I had to downsize my belongings, too. I sold a lot of my antiques for nearly nothing at a garage sale, and had to leave behind cake-decorating supplies and lots of my children’s memories. But oh well, it was time for a clean sweep.
After making the move in a U-Haul with the help of neighbors and friends, I was happy with my new little place, all on one floor. No more climbing two flights of stairs to go to bed! Life should be grand, I thought.
On day two, something happened that should have warned me of things to come. I plugged an extension cord into the wall and it didn’t work. When I reported the problem to the maintenance supervisor, his answer was, "Oh, this place was flooded during Hurricane Bonnie."
He said that after that 1989 storm, the apartment had sat empty for over six months. Then they had refurbished it, deciding they "wouldn't know if everything was repaired until somebody moved in."
Not only did the electrical outlets on that wall not work, but the phone lines didn't work either. Despite this, my furniture was already there and I wanted my "new" apartment, so I waited for them to fix the problems. Two weeks later, I started unpacking in earnest.
 | | Peaches, a cuddly peach-face lovebird, was the first to die mysteriously. |
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Like being strangled
Three weeks after moving in, something was very wrong. Each time I climbed the stairs to my apartment, I wheezed. Once inside, I often felt like someone was strangling me, cutting off my air supply. I went to see my doctor. He told me I had asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or possibly both.
In November, I noticed slimy black mold - the kind you might find in the bathroom - on the window sills. Management said this happened all the time during the winter months; it was just condensation. Clean it with bleach, they said. That I did. Then the migraines came. For the next three months I also had continual sinus infections and strep throat.
I blamed it all on the gas heat. It had been years since I lived in anything other than all-electric. When friends who visited complained of headaches that went away after they left the apartment, I still didn’t put two and two together.
The only bright spot was Peaches and Mango, who by this time had joined me and had the run of the apartment. They would sit on my shoulder when I was on the computer or sewing, and "cuddle" with me when I watched TV. They were my new friends, in a new apartment, and new town. They were helping me to adjust to the empty nest syndrome.
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Something black was growing on the wall around the vent in the living room. I found the same splattering in my bedroom.
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But I continued to feel poorly. Then in March 2001 I was rushed by ambulance to the hospital for intestinal bleeding. I thought I had a severe case of food poisoning. The doctors were stumped. After endless tests, I was sent home.
Canaries in the mine
When spring came, something happened I never would have imagined. A couple of weeks after I turned the air conditioner on in the apartment, Peaches started acting funny, excessively scratching at her chest and tummy. When she stopped eating and started regurgitating, I took her to see Dr. Renee Welch at the Williamsburg Animal Clinic. Peaches was so sick I left her there for treatment. By the next morning, she was dead.
I decided to get a necropsy of Peaches done. When the report came back from Pal-Path, a Dallas veterinarian clinical testing laboratory, it said Peaches had hepatitis. However, it also reported mysterious lesions on her liver and a chronic "nonspecific" inflammation.
 | | Mango, a Senegal, soon followed Peaches with some of the same symptoms. |
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By now, something black was growing on the wall around the heating and air-conditioning vent in the living room. The splattering grew to two feet by two feet across the ceiling and adjacent walls. I found the same thing in my bedroom.
Maintenance cleaned the black mold off with bleach. It came back. They cleaned it again, and applied a paint with fungicide. It came back.
The cycle continued, even after maintenance said they had cleaned the ductwork and sprayed it with a fungicide.
By June, Mango started showing the same symptoms as Peaches. By this time, I had acquired an African grey named Esther and I thought perhaps she had given Mango a disease. But when he started to regurgitate, my intuition said otherwise.
I drove Mango 25 miles to the nearest avian veterinarian, who said he was much too thin. After tube feeding him a dose of liquid vitamins and starting him on antibiotics, the vet let Mango come home with me to live in a heated aquarium where I watched him around the clock.
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The necropsy said Peaches had mysterious lesions on her liver. By June, Mango started showing the same symptoms.
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Within a week, Mango began passing blood and that's when the light bulb came on. Mango was hemorrhaging, just as I had. He seemed to be suffering, so I held him while Dr. Jean Eddy at the Poquoson Veternary Hospital put him to sleep. It makes me cry to think about it again.
Once again, I ordered a necropsy. It was becoming a sad ritual. The results: like Peaches, Mango seemed to have no specific infectious or cancerous condition, just severe tissue breakdown, this time in the intestines.
Enough is enough
Whatever was happening, I decided to get my birds out of the apartment before any more died. I still had Esther the African grey, and I now cared for an Amazon named Sidney and a canary named Drib that belonged to Melissa, who had just left for college. All three birds went to live at the pet shop where I worked, and would stay boarded there for the next four months.
The repeated visits from the apartment building's maintenance crew weren't helping. I was sick, and something was killing my birds. I decided it was time to take things into my own hands. I called the health department, and they advised me to hire an environmental hygienist.
Also called an industrial hygienist, this Indiana Jones of air quality usually can be found in the Yellow Pages under Air Pollution-Indoors. A good one comes equipped with his or her own microscope, testing materials, a laptop and digital camera.
The biologist who came to my apartment discovered three types of mold, later identified as alternaria and rhizopus, both potentially toxic (see Your Guide to Molds), and torulopus, implicated in some types of infections. Before leaving, he recommended that I crack the windows to allow more air to circulate and contact the codes compliance office of the city of Williamsburg.
The city sent their own inspector to investigate, and he found the origin of the mold. It was in the insulation - not in the ductwork - that surrounded the intake vent for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
Condemned
The city condemned my apartment. Finally, I had some answers! But the next steps were not as easy as I thought they would be.
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My experience with mold has been devastating, both emotionally and monetarily. I estimate my medical and out-of-pocket expenses at well over $83,000.
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I had already decided to leave and find a new place to live, but the apartment managers refused to give me any monetary assistance with moving. It really wasn't management's fault - they were at the mercy of the apartment building's home office in Richmond.
And, unfortunately, the home office only had me to pressure them. Although I was not the only renter in the building with a mold problem, no one else had gone to the effort to have their apartments inspected. In Virginia, you can't even file a class action suit, so that wasn't an option, either.
In the fall of 2001, almost exactly a year after I had moved in, I left what had been my promising new apartment and moved into a duplex about five miles away. There, my story should have had a happy ending. Instead, the nightmare continued.
Within two weeks, my migraines worsened, now including terrible bouts of vomiting. I suspected, with my neurologist in agreement, that mold might be to blame again. Over the next few months the property managers had the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system inspected twice. They reported nothing amiss.
Worse, Esther and the canary had rejoined me in my new home, and by Christmas, Sidney was very ill, sneezing and refusing to eat.
I took Sidney to two different veterinarians, including Dr. Welch at the Animal Clinic and, later, to Dr. Kenneth Flammer at the North Carolina State Veterinary School. Dr. Welch suspected fungal pneumonia after x-rays revealed lesions on Sidney's lungs, but anti-fungal medications did not seem to improve her condition. Dr. Flammer could find nothing wrong.
 | | Sidney, a yellow-front Amazon, recovered from a mysterious illness after weeks of around-the-clock care. |
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Saving Sidney
In the end, I believe I saved Sidney by giving her subcutaneous shots of Baytril (oral seemed too painful for her) and syringe feeding her several times a day a mixture of baby food, molasses, protein powder and Roudybush hand-feeding formula.
But while she improved, another miserable year of poor health passed for me. Finally, I found a lawyer who was willing to help. The first thing he did was hire another environmental hygienist to inspect my duplex for mold.
After a thorough inspection, including many samples and photographs, the biologist found an alphabet soup of potentially dangerous molds in my new place. There was black mold covering the coils in the heating and air conditioning. In my carpet and mattress were not only the alternaria and rhizopus discovered in my old apartment, but aspergillus, aureobasidium, chaetomiun, cladosporium, curvularia, drechslera, epicoccum, mucor, penicillium, pithomyces, and trichoderma.
Ironically, none of these molds could be seen by the naked eye, but by now I was suffering more than ever. Along with my migraines, the sinus infections were back and doctors had diagnosed fibromyalgia and "irritable bowel syndrome."
This past March, 2 1/2 years after my troubles began, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a condition marked by intestinal inflammation and abdominal pain. The cause of Crohn's is difficult to pin down, but researchers believe that a dysfunction of the immune system results in the intestine overreacting to an environmental, dietary, or infectious agent.
A permanent home
I still live in the duplex, but much has changed since the beginning of this year. For one thing, I am suing the owners of the apartment complex where I used to live for not fixing the mold problem when I first asked them to.
The owner of the duplex where I currently live has not yet replaced the carpet, but he did replace the entire heating and air condition system with an external filtration system that bypasses the original filter. This has helped my symptoms some.
However, I am looking again for a new place to live. My allergist recommends a home on stilts by salt water, so that there is constant air flow. I've heard of people moving to Hawaii for this reason, but I'm hoping to relocate to Virginia Beach, right here in Virginia, or to Delaware where I have family, perhaps on the beach at Rehobeth or Lewes.
Sidney, my last bird to become ill, pulled through after around-the-clock care. Today she is a thriving, active Amazon - something of a miracle considering she was so ill I took her to the doctor's twice to be euthanized. (Both times, she perked up long enough to say "hello" in her sweet Amazon voice and I couldn't do it.) Dr. Flammer, the university veterinarian who could find nothing wrong with Sidney, has dubbed her mysterious illness the "Sidney Syndrome."
 | | Esther the African grey was the only one of Linda Card's pet parrots to remain healthy in her mold-infested apartment and duplex. |
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Facing the future
I don't doubt - and my physicians back me up - that all or most of the health problems I and my birds have suffered has resulted from molds. How else can I explain my sudden onset of multiple illnesses? Why else would three of my five birds (the latest being Drib, the canary) die and another become seriously ill from mysterious tissue lesions?
The mycotoxins, or toxic chemicals, released by the molds found in my rental homes are capable of producing the very symptoms my birds' necropsies reported. Esther the African grey is my only bird who has remained healthy, at least as far as I can tell.
My experience with mold has been devastating, both emotionally and monetarily. I estimate my medical and out-of-pocket expenses at well over $83,000, including the loss of my car, a 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII, because I couldn't make the payments after I had to move again; replacing contaminated furniture; and all the emergency room visits I've had to make over the last two years due to migraines and intestinal bleeding.
I now seem to be permanently sensitive to airborne contaminants. Sometimes I begin sneezing as soon as I walk into a building. One glance at the vents in the ceiling or walls, which are usually black, confirms the problem. I use my inhaler and get out as soon as possible. As my lung capacity diminishes from each exposure, I foresee the day when I will need an oxygen tank to breathe.
Most recently, I suffered a near-fatal analphylatic attack while in Denver to attend my daughter's graduation. Something in the air caused my throat to swell almost shut. My face looked like a cabbage patch doll's. I was hospitalized for three days. I now carry with me everywhere I go an Epi-Pen, an auto-injector that administers epinephrine, the emergency treatment for severe allergic reactions.
A legion of sufferers
Considering my emotional suffering and the medical care I expect to need for the rest of my life for Crohn's disease, asthma, fibromyalgia, migraines and fear of another anaphylatic attack, my lawsuit, which is still in the interrogatory stage, asks for $35 million. Only time will tell whether I will face more problems. Every day is a new page.
It helps that I am not alone. For the last several years the press has been filled with stories like mine. For instance, a September 1999 New York Times column by Edward Lipinski entitled "The Battle against Mold and Mildew" reported that up to 50 percent of homes contain problem molds. Not long after, a December 1999 USA Weekend Report called "Mold: A Health Alert" said that "people with prolonged exposure to mycotoxins from Stachybotrys and other fungi experienced chronic fatigue, loss of balance, irritability, memory loss and difficulty speaking."
According to a Mayo Clinic Study, nearly all of the 37 million sufferers of chronic sinus infection might be able to attribute it to mold.
Authorities seem to finally be paying attention. Last October, a federal jury in California awarded $18 million - all but $500,000 of the amount in punitive damages - to a homeowner against an insurer that declined coverage for mold damage. The judge reduced the award to $3 million; the case is on appeal.
In May, the Delaware Supreme Court upheld a $1.04 million award to two women whose landlord failed to address leaks and mold problems in their apartments, resulting in asthma attacks and other health problems.
Federal legislation called the Melina’s Bill, after the daughter of a Southfield, Mich., couple, has been introduced to protect consumers from toxic mold in their homes. In that case, the family lived in a new three-bedroom home for only 24 days before mold drove them out. The daughter suffered asthma attacks that eventually led to a 70 percent loss of lung capacity and the entire family had nosebleeds and itched with hives.
In addition, a California state senator has proposed a Toxic Mold Protection Act that would set standards for mold exposure and cleanup and would require disclosure of mold problems when buildings are sold or leased. The Texas Legislature is also considering bills that would address indoor air-quality issues, including mold, in schools and other public buildings.
Brockovich a role model
As for me, my sincere hope is to be the Erin Brockovich of molds. Like the now-famous law clerk whose crusade against California's Pacific Gas & Electric Company for contaminating drinking water with toxic chromium ended with a $333 million settlement for its victims, I want people to know what can happen when they live in an environment that has become toxic - by molds.
Not everybody will be affected by molds the way I have been. Most types of mold that are routinely encountered don't pose a big health risk to most people. However, if you're already predisposed to allergies, asthma or other conditions, as I apparently am, they can make them worse and possibly serious, especially if the mold is a type that releases chemicals called mycotoxins (see sidebar).
If your bird dies for an unknown reason, or if you begin having health problems like mine, think mold. And don't stop at air duct inspection. Ductwork usually is a red herring; ducts are often clean and not to blame - they simply carry the air.
In my case, and probably many others as I have found since then, it is the coils in an AC unit that are covered with mold. When moist air crosses over them, the mold grows, becomes airborne and flows through the ducts until it lands on something to feed on and continues to grow. Every time your air conditioning or heating shuts on or off, the accompanying shudder causes more mold spores to be launched into the air.
All molds need water to grow, so consider any place in your home that might have moisture or water damage. With closer inspection, you may find that mold is growing in damp insulation, or in the back of wallboard, or on books, files, carpeting, furnishings, plants and other items inside your house. It may be in the water heater closet, or under the sink or behind the refrigerator - wherever there's been a leak.
And if you find mold? It's costly to pay someone to pinpoint what kind of mold you have and whether it might hurt you; I paid industrial hygienists $500 a pop to see what kind of mold mine was because of the health problems I was having. In most cases, it's best to simply identify the source of water damage and get rid of the mold as quickly as possible by repairing areas or using dehumidifiers. If air ducts carrying mold spores are lined with fiberglass, they will need to be completely replaced.
If the mold keeps coming back no matter how much you clean, then you might need to hire a professional abatement company.
For more help with a mold problem, call your local Department of Health, Office of Environmental Investigations, or the Environmental and Occupational Disease Epidemiology Unit in your city or state.
Birds led the way
While some might think it macabre, I still have Mango, Peaches and the canary. Their bodies are tucked away in a private place in my freezer, awaiting a proper disposal. I have not been able to find the strength to bury them, as I don’t yet have a place to call my own.
The way I look at it, the death of my birds led me to discover the cause of my own ills. They are precious in their own right. One day, I will cremate them all, buy an urn and keep their ashes in an honored place. It's the least I can do.
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Linda Card speaks to bird clubs about her experiences whenever possible and continues to find solace in the company of her birds, now including Esther the African grey; Sidney the yellow-front Amazon; Jose, a blue-front Amazon; Rosie, an Indian ringneck; TJ, an African ringneck; and Rhett, a crimson rosella. |
