USGS National Wildlife Health Center
Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report October 2002 to December 2002 |
Reported State |
Location |
Dates |
Species |
Mortality |
Diagnosis |
Reported By |
CA |
Sonoma County, Copeland Creek |
08/07/02-08/12/02 |
Foothills Yellow-Legged Frog |
14 |
Undetermined |
NW |
CA |
Colusa County, Sacramento NWR Complex |
11/25/02-01/16/03 |
Ross' Goose, Snow Goose, American Coot, Northern Pintail, Mallard |
200 (e) |
Avian cholera |
NW |
CA |
Riverside County, Salton Sea |
12/12/02-12/15/02 |
Snowy Egret, Great Egret |
9 |
Open |
NW |
FL |
Monroe County, Big Pine Key |
11/04/02-11/06/02 |
Double-crested Cormorant |
2 |
Viral Infection: West Nile |
SCW |
FL |
Volusia County, Daytona Beach |
09/26/01-09/27/01 |
Unidentified Warbler |
100 (e) |
Trauma: Impact |
FL |
FL |
St. Mark's NWR |
12/19/02-ongoing |
Southern Leopard Frog |
15 (e) |
Parasitism: Mesomycetozoa-like |
NW |
GA |
Clarke County |
09/23/02-10/07/02 |
Canada Goose |
5 (e) |
Toxicosis: Ethylene glycol |
SCW |
GA |
Baldwin County, Lake Sinclair |
09/09/02-09/11/02 |
Canada Goose |
3 (e) |
Open |
SCW |
GA |
Liberty County |
10/24/02-11/04/02 |
Mourning Dove |
10 (e) |
Parasitism: Trichomoniasis Salmonellosis |
SCW |
GA |
Johnson County, Wrightsville |
12/01/02-12/03/03 |
Northern Cardinal |
5 (e) |
Salmonellosis |
SCW |
KS |
McPherson Co. |
12/03/02-12/04/02 |
European Starling |
1,500 (e) |
Toxicosis Suspect |
NW |
LA |
Lacassine NWR |
10/29/02-12/03/02 |
Blue-winged Teal, Black-crowned Night Heron, American Wigeon, Barn Owl |
13* (e) |
Open |
NW |
LA |
Louisiana Delta Plantation |
12/04/02-12/04/02 |
Northern Pintail |
20 (e) |
Trauma: storm |
NW |
MD |
Dorchester Co. |
09/08/02-10/25/02 |
White-tailed Deer |
100 (e) |
Epizootic hemorrhagic disease |
SCW |
MD |
Frederick Co. |
12/20/02-01/06/03 |
American Crow |
70 (e) |
Enteritis |
MD |
MD |
Garrett Co. |
12/26/02-12/28/02 |
American Crow |
200 (e) |
Toxicosis Suspect |
MD |
MO |
Squaw Creek NWR |
09/01/02-10/02/02 |
American White Pelican |
30 (e) |
Open |
NW |
MT |
Charles M Russell NWR |
08/20/02-08/20/02 |
Tiger Salamander |
50 (e) |
Open |
|
NC |
Graham County, Tulula Wetlands |
04/27/02-05/21/02 |
Wood Frog, Spotted Salamander |
100,000 (e) |
Open |
NW |
ND |
Chase Lake NWR |
09/15/02-10/10/02 |
Unidentified Pelican |
750 (e) |
Open |
ND |
NE |
Hall County |
11/26/02-11/27/02 |
Canada (Cackling) Goose |
20 (e) |
Aflatoxicosis suspect |
NW |
NM |
Catron County, Gila National Forest |
10/10/02-10/17/02 |
Chiricahua Leopard Frog |
180 (e) |
Open |
NW |
NY |
Albany County |
02/03/02-02/17/02 |
Gray Squirrel |
3 |
Toxicosis: Brodifacoum |
NY |
NY |
Livingston County |
07/26/02-08/01/02 |
Gray Squirrel |
2 |
Toxicosis: Brodifacoum |
IL |
OR |
Ankeney NWR |
11/12/02-11/22/02 |
Canada (Cackling) Goose |
36 |
Aspergillosis |
NW |
PA |
Greene County |
10/10/02-10/11/02 |
White-tailed Deer |
100 (e) |
Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease |
SCW |
SC |
Laurens County, Cross Hill |
09/17/02-10/07/02 |
Northern Cardinal, House Finch |
12 (e) |
Salmonellosis |
SCW |
SC |
Laurens County, Ware Shoals |
07/10/02-09/27/02 |
Northern Cardinal Unidentified Passerine |
35 (e) |
Hepatitis Nephritis |
SCW |
UT |
Davis County, Great Salt Lake |
11/20/02-11/29/02 |
Eared Grebe, California Gull, Unidentified Duck |
2,500 (e) |
Avian cholera |
WY |
VA |
Accomack Co. |
11/30/02-12/01/02 |
Snow Goose |
18 |
Emaciation: starvation suspect, Trauma |
NW |
VA |
Virginia Beach Co. |
10/06/02-10/06/02 |
Mallard |
19 |
Botulism type C |
NW |
WA |
Yakima County, Grandview |
10/31/02-11/20/02 |
Mallard |
200 (e) |
Toxicosis: Famphur |
NW |
WI |
Outagamie County |
10/15/02-11/15/02 |
Mallard Pekin |
40 (e) |
Open: botulism
suspect |
NW |
WI |
Jefferson Co., Lakes Mud, Ripley, Rock |
11/20/02-11/22/02 |
Ring-billed Gull |
450 |
Toxicosis suspect: Onions |
WI |
WI |
Sauk, Columbia, Iowa, and Grant Counties |
12/10/02-ongoing |
Bald Eagle |
9 |
Lead poisoning Toxicosis Suspect |
NW, WI |
WI |
Upper Mississippi NWR |
11/09/02-11/15/02 |
Tundra Swan |
15 (e) |
Bacterial infection: Riemerella Anatipestifer Gout: visceral |
NW, WI |
WI |
Upper Mississippi NWR, pools 7, 8, 9 |
10/22/02-11/10/02 |
Lesser Scaup, American Coot, Ring-necked Duck, Mallard, American Wigeon |
2,000 (e) |
Parasitism: Cyathocotyle bushiensis |
NW |
Updates and Corrections: |
Reported State |
Location |
Dates |
Species |
Mortality |
Diagnosis |
Reported By |
CA |
Imperial Co., Salton Sea |
06/10/02-10/31/02 |
Brown Pelican, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Caspian Tern, Eared Grebe |
219 |
Botulism type C |
NW |
KY,OH,IN |
Multiple counties |
08/13/02-10/30/02 |
House Finch, House Sparrow |
200 (e) |
Parasitism: trichomoniasis, Viral Infection: West Nile |
NW |
NC |
Alamance County |
08/16/02-11/10/02 |
White-tailed Deer |
809 (e) |
Epizootic hemorrhagic disease |
SCW |
NY,PA,ONT |
Lake Erie Lackawanna, Bethlehem Steel |
06/25/02-12/30/02 |
Ring-billed Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Unidentified Shorebird |
14,500 (e) |
Botulism type E |
NW |
NY |
Lake Erie shore line |
06/10/02-10/01/02 |
Mudpuppy Salamander |
20,000 (e) |
Open |
NW |
OH |
WA, MI, VA, KY, NE, MD, IA, IN, WI and PA |
08/10/02-09/30/02 |
Great-horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Barred Owl, Double-crested Cormorant |
1,500 (e) |
Viral Infection: West Nile |
NW |
OH |
Fairborn, Greene County |
07/03/02-07/07/02 |
Common Grackle European Starling |
10 |
Open |
NW |
VA |
Newport News Co., Newport News Park |
08/17/02-11/10/02 |
White-tailed Deer |
100 (e) |
Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease |
SCW |
(e) = estimate, * = morbidity and mortality
New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (NY), Southeastern
Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCW), USGS National Wildlife
Health Center (NW), Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources (WI),
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FL), Illinois
Dept. of Natural Resources (IL), Wyoming Game and Fish Dept. (WY),
Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources (MD), North Dakota Game and
Fish Dept. (ND).
Written and compiled by Kathryn Converse/Rex Sohn - Western US, Grace McLaughlin
- Eastern US, ChristineLemanski, NWHC. The Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report is available
at http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov.
To reportmortality or receive information about
this report, contact the above NWHC staff,
or for Hawaiian Islands contactThierry Work.
Phone: (608) 270-2400, FAX: (608)
270-2415 or e-mail:kathy_converse@usgs.gov.
USGS NationalWildlife Health Center, 6006 Schroeder
Road, Madison, WI 53711.
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Quarterly Mortality Reports |
Avian Cholera on the Great Salt Lake
In late November the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources reported
mortality of eared grebes, California gulls and various species of ducks
along the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake. The Wyoming Veterinary
Diagnostic Lab in Laramie, Wyoming diagnosed avian cholera in 6 freshly
dead gulls and eared grebes submitted for diagnostic investigation. Aerial
and boat surveys for dead birds were hampered by inclement weather and
poor visibility. Brine shrimp harvesters on the main body of the lake
reported observing widely scattered eared grebe carcasses. An estimated
2,500 grebes died. Previous epizootics of avian cholera have occurred
on the Great Salt Lake in October and November of 1994, 1995, and 1998
with estimated mortality reaching as high as 44,000 birds. The predominant
species affected in the die-offs have consistently been eared grebes.
Aspergillosis in Cackling Canada Geese
Biologists at Ankeny NWR, in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, reported
the death of 36 Cackling Canada geese in mid-November. Carcasses submitted
to the NWHC for diagnostic investigation had massive Aspergillus fumigatus
infections of the lungs. Repeated mortalities of hundreds of waterfowl
due to aspergillosis have occurred at Willamette Valley Refuges since
the early 1990's. Mortality usually occurred in October, when geese
migrate in and begin to feed on waste corn in nearby agricultural fields.
Later in October, when rainfall normally increases, the geese switch
to foraging on new growth rye grass and the mortality ends. Refuge biologists
believe that lack of rain in October 2002 delayed aspergillosis mortality
until mid-November.
Lake Erie
Botulism type E Claims Record Numbers. Losses of more than 14,500 birds
in 2002 mark the largest single year of botulism type E losses in the
Great Lakes since the recent 1990’s epizootics. More than 10,000
birds, including about 6,000 long-tailed ducks, 2,000 red-breasted mergansers,
and 1,000 loons, died during a 3-week period from October 25 through
November 10. As in 2001, birds started dying in large numbers within
hours of arriving on the lake on their southward migration. Sick and
dead birds were reported along the Canadian shore, primarily from Long
Point east, in Pennsylvania, and along the entire New York shoreline.
The Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Center and New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation received many of birds, confirmed the type
E toxin, and collected information on food habits in an ongoing effort
to understand the epizootiology of this disease in Lake Erie.
Trematodiasis Kills Birds on the Upper Mississippi River
Hunters and Upper Mississippi NWR personnel found large numbers of American
coots, ring-billed ducks, and lesser scaup along the shoreline and on
islands in the Mississippi River from La Crosse District, Wisconsin and
Minnesota, south to McGregor district in Iowa. Overwhelming infections
of the intestinal flukes Cyathocotyle bushiensis and Sphaeridiotrema
globulus were diagnosed in fresh carcasses submitted to the NWHC. An
estimated 2,000 waterfowl died. Eagles and mammals scavenged many birds
and others were washed into inaccessible areas of the river. Mortality
caused by these two species has been reported in various areas of North
America. This is the first outbreak reported at Upper Mississippi River
NWR.
Hemorrhagic Disease in White-tailed deer
Only 3 years following the last major outbreak of HD, 15 states (KS,
TX, LA, WI, IN, OH, PA, WV, VA, MD, TN, NC, AL, GA, SC) reported mortalities
mid-July to late November from epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus serotype
2 (EHDV-2) and 3 states (GA, NC, VA) had deer diagnosed with bluetongue
virus serotype 10 (BTV-10) in August. Several states (WI, PA OH) reported
their first isolations of the EHDV-2, although a previous incident was
suspected in Wisconsin. No isolates were typed to EHDV-1, which was isolated
along with EHDV-2 in 1999. Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease
Study (SCWDS) and the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory provided
diagnostic services and mortality information along with wildlife agencies
in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Maryland.
Trichomoniasis
Mourning doves, house finches, house sparrows, goldfinches and several other
species collected in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana had lesions consistent with
trichomoniasis. Hundreds of ill and dead birds were found at feeders and
in back yards in the tri-state area. Some of the finches and sparrows were
also diagnosed with West Nile virus infection, but the roles each disease
played in the overall mortality is unknown.
For additional information please contact Dr. Scott Wright, USGS National Wildlife Health Center - Disease
Investigations Branch Chief, at 608-270-2460.or Paul Slota, USGS National Wildlife Health Center - Support Services
Branch Chief at 608-270-2420.
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