Pet bird causes owner's illness

Rachael has been ill for five years

A teenager who has suffered a mysterious lung disease which has left her on oxygen 24 hours a day, has been told the problem is her pet cockatiel.

Rachael Wakefield, 18, from Ashton, Greater Manchester, has been ill for five years and undergone several tests.

Medics diagnosed everything from childhood asthma to pulmonary fibrosis.

Specialists at a London hospital have told Rachael she has hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by protein dust from Penni the cockatiel's droppings.

Also known as "bird fancier's lung", it is harmless to most people but can trigger breathing difficulties in a minority of people.

In the last 18 months Rachael contracted MRSA in Tameside hospital and almost died during a respiratory attack last year.

Damaged lungs

The teenager used to work on a farm, and specialists at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London say hay mould may also be a factor in her illness.

Her family is now planning to give Penni away.

Rachael said: "I am on oxygen 24 hours a day, which has obviously had an impact on my life - my social life, my education.

"Penni has got to go, she is going to my grandma's."

Doctors say Rachael's lungs are damaged and that the dust may take two years to properly clear from her house.