Publications

During December 1983 and early January 1984, about 200 Canada geese (Branta canadensis) died of lead poisoning at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island, Massachusetts. In an effort to determine the source of lead, 100 bottom samples were taken from a refuge impoundment where much of the mortality/morbidity occurred. An average of 157,150 pellets/ha was found with a range...

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

The whooping crane has been the subject of intensive scientific study and management because it is an endangered species and has high public interest. Programs have been developed to identify critical habitat, to increase production through captive breeding, and in recent years, to use sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) as surrogate parents in establishing new populations of wild whooping...

No abstract available.

Inclusion body disease of cranes was the cause of death in 17 immature and mature cranes of 5 different species in Wisconsin. A herpesvirus of unknown origin was the apparent cause. An isolate of this herpesvirus was used to experimentally infect 3 species of cranes. Macroscopic and microscopic lesions associated with naturally acquired and experimentally induced disease were essentially...

The National Wildlife Health Laboratory (NWHL), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Madison are in the process of a 7-ha prairie restoration project on their lands to create a microcosmic representation of presettlement Wisconsin. Visiting scientists, personnel from local schools and universities, and neighboring public will eventually be able to use this land for its educational and...

No abstract available.

What is avian botulism? Avian botulism, or Western duck sickness, is one of the three most important disease problems of wild migratory birds. Each year, many birds are paralyzed or die after exposure to a toxin produced by the botulinum bacterium. Two of the seven toxin types that have been identifies cause mortality in wild birds; one of these types, type C, is most often associated...

Determination of lead poisoning problem areas is complicated by the nature of the disease process. Rigorous documentation of lead poisoning as a cause of mortality in birds requires the integration and evaluation of pathological and toxicological data by an experienced diagnostician. No single technique provides unequivocal proof that lead exposure occurred at the site of death. However

A small flock of captive giant Canada geese were vaccinated with the experimental bac- terin in Nebraska to test its efficacy under field conditions. Only 2 of 157 vaccinates died from avian cholera during an annual spring die-off.

Wildlife health concerns associated with disposal of sewage effluent in wetlands are of three primary types: (1) introduction of pathogens, (2) introduction of pollutants that adversely impact on host body defense mechanisms, and (3) changes in the physical and chemical properties of wetlands that favor the development and maintenance of disease problems. Unlike the situation with human...