[Two surveys on farmer's lung disease and bird breeder's disease in the Pyrenees region].

Two different surveys, one strictly epidemiological in rural areas, the other retrospective and within hospitals, led to a better knowledge of the setting of the FLD and BBD in South Pyrenees region. In the country, more than 12% of patients had specific precipitins, 6% had either one or both diseases; women had anti-aviary precipitins more frequently than men. The retrospective hospital survey yielded 456 cases of patients admitted or consulting revealing numerous correlations between the different clinical, radiological and functional syndromes on the one hand and the serological positivity on the other. Serological diagnosis was most useful, as a wide variety of antigenic extracts was used (actinomycetes thermophiles, mouldy hay, bird droppings), mixed sensitizing was extremely frequent. The widely found positivity towards avian antigens seems specific to the South Pyrenees region.