Publications

Cyanide poisoning of birds is caused by exposure to cyanide in two forms: inorganic salts and hydrogen cyanide gas (HCN). Two sources of cyanide have been associated with bird mortalities: gold and silver mines that use cyanide in the extraction process and a predator control device called the M-44 sodium cyanide ejector, which uses cyanide as the toxic agent. Most of the cyanide...

History can be defined as a chronological record of significant events. In wildlife disease investigations, determining the history or background of a problem is the first significant step toward establishing a diagnosis. The diagnostic process is often greatly expedited by a thorough history accompanying specimens submitted for laboratory evaluation. This information is also important...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are industrial compounds with multiple industrial and commercial uses (Table 41.1). PCBs are chemically inert and stable when heated. These properties contribute greatly to PCBs having become environmental contaminants. The chemical inertness and heat stability properties that make PCBs desirable for industry also protect them from destruction when the...

Public attitudes towards animals continue to change over time. These changes apply to wildlife along with other species, and in recent years, attitudes have been increasingly oriented toward assuring that all species receive proper care whenever human interactions are involved. Guidance regarding the application of euthanasia is provided in the previous chapter. This chapter provides...

No abstract available.

Unusual numbers of wedge-tailed shearwater (Puffinus pacificus) chicks stranded on Oahu (Hawaii, USA) in 1994. Compared to healthy wedge-tailed shearwater (WTSW) chicks, stranded chicks were underweight, dehydrated, leukopenic, lymphopenic, eosinopenic, and heterophilic; some birds were toxemic and septic. Stranded chicks also were hypoglycemic and had elevated aspartate amino...

Thirteen cell lines were established and characterized from brain, kidney, lung, spleen, heart, liver, gall bladder, urinary bladder, pancreas, testis, skin, and periorbital and tumor tissues of an immature male green turtle (Chelonia mydas) with fibropapillomas. Cell lines were optimally maintained at 30A? C in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. Propagation of...

We found up to 10 ppm wet weight of selenium in blood samples collected from emperor geese (Chen canagica) on their breeding grounds on the Yukon‐Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska, USA. Incubating adult females captured in late May through mid‐June 1997 had significantly higher concentrations of selenium in their blood (mean = 5.60 ppm) than adult females captured during wing molt in...

No abstract available.

We describe a case of erysipelas in a free-ranging endangered Hawaiian crow. The partially scavenged carcass exhibited gross emaciation and petechial hemorrhages in both lungs. Microscopy revealed multiple necrotic foci associated with gram-positive rods in the liver and adrenal, diffuse acute proximal tubular necrosis of kidney, diffuse necrosis and inflammation of proventricular mucosa

Avian botulism kills thousands of waterbirds annually throughout North America, but management efforts to reduce its effects have been hindered because environmental conditions that promote outbreaks are poorly understood. We measured sediment and water variables in 32 pairs of wetlands with and without a current outbreak of avian botulism. Wetlands with botulism outbreaks had greater...

Avian botulism is a paralytic, often fatal, disease of birds that results when they ingest toxin produced by the bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. Seven distinct types of toxin designated by the letters A to G have been identified (Table 38.1). Waterfowl die-offs due to botulism are usually caused by type C toxin; sporadic die-offs among fish-eating birds, such as common loons and gulls...