Publications

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...

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.

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

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...

1. One-day old American kestrel (Faico sparverius) nestlings were orally dosed daily with 5 μl/g of corn oil (controls), 25, 125 or 625 mg/kg of metallic lead in corn oil for 10 days. 2. Forty per cent of the nestlings receiving 625 mg/kg of lead died after 6 days and growth rates were significantly depressed in the two highest lead dosed groups. At 10 days hematocrit values were...

In November 1984, the NWHL was assigned the task to: "Prepare a report of bald eagle mortality from lead poisoning and other causes. Determine whether primary causes of lead poisoning are due to ingestion of lead shot pellets. Prepare an appropriate map showing eagle concentrations and location of death. Make management recommendations." This report is the response to that task. Report...

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann)) shot within 20 km of the zinc smelters in the Palmerton, Pennsylvania area contained extremely high renal concentrations of cadmium (372 ppm dry weight (dw)) and zinc (600 ppm dw). The deer with the highest renal zinc concentration was shot 4 km from the smelters and had joint lesions similar to those seen in zinc-poisoned horses...

In 1978–81, 293 bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) from 32 states were necropsied and analyzed for organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and lead residues. DDE was found in all carcasses; PCB, DDD, trans-nonachlor, dieldrin and oxychlordane were next in order of percent frequency of detection. The median levels of DDE and PCB have declined when compared with...

Waterfowl mortality from avian cholera during July 1979-May 1980 was widespread in the Central and Mississippi flyways, occurring in a wide variety of species and locations from nesting grounds of snow geese (Chen caerulescens) on Hudson Bay south to waterfowl wintering areas on the Texas coast and playa lakes region. Mortality estimates at the various sites ranged from several birds to...

Two wild and two captive sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) were diagnosed by National Wildlife Health Laboratory personnel as having died from lead toxicity. Ingestion of lead fishing weights by the wild cranes and of unspent .22 caliber shell cartridges by the captive cranes were responsible for these deaths. One crane force-fed lead pellets showed an increase of blood lead levels from...

Three species of trichostrongylid nematodes were removed from the gizzards of 25 lesser snow geese, Chen caerulescens caerulescens, collected at Winisk, Ont. A 100% prevalence of infection was noted in the sampled population with each bird harboring two or more of the following species: Epomidiostomum crami (prevalence, 92%; mean intensity, 18.7 ± 13.3), Amidostomum anseris (prevalence...

Gleason Basin, a marsh located in the western part of the Rainwater Basin in Nebraska, was selected during the 1980 spring waterfowl migration as a study site to determine the presence and persistence of virulent Pasteurella multocida. Avian cholera mortality in migratory waterfowl using the Basin increased during a 2-wk period of a die-off beginning the first week of March when 2,409...