Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 08:42:31 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Philip Webre Subject: Botulism in birds: from today's NY Times Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline November 19, 2002 Birds Feeding at Lake Erie Die in Botulism Outbreak By JIM ROBBINS =20 This fall is turning out to be the deadliest yet for loons, ducks and = other birds that encounter a natural outbreak of a rare form of the nerve = toxin botulism in Lake Erie. Dr. Ward Stone, director of the New York Department of Environmental = Conservation Pathology Laboratory in Delmar, N.Y., which studies the dead = birds, said that over the last two weeks his staff had picked up more than = 5,500 birds along the shores of Lake Erie in western New York, between = Buffalo and Dunkirk, including 126 loons, 4,500 long-tailed ducks, geese, = grebes, mergansers, scaups and many types of gulls. He said the birds = found were only a small part of the total number killed. "We're very = concerned," he said. "This is the tip of the iceberg." Canadian wildlife officials have also found large numbers of birds on Lake = Erie. They have counted more than 1,000 dead loons, including 700 on an = 18-mile stretch of beach at Long Point, Ontario. Loons are of special = concern because their numbers in the region are low. The birds died after eating fish infected with type E botulism, officials = said. The botulism outbreak killed thousands of resident birds in the same area = this summer. Those that have died in recent weeks are migratory waterfowl = moving south. It is the fourth year the bacteria have appeared to kill = birds, and no one knows how many years it might last.=20 This year, New York wildlife officials, who are gathering as many = carcasses as they can find, are trying a new approach, hoping to head off = the poisoning of eagles, hawks and other scavengers. The toxin does not = pose a threat to humans, officials say, as long as they do not eat fish or = ducks that appear to be healthy. This is believed to be the largest outbreak of type E botulism in the = United States, and it is believed to be caused by an invasion of exotic = species. A proliferation of quagga and zebra mussels, brought from Europe = in ocean-going freighters, has greatly cleaned the water in Lake Erie, = allowing sunlight to penetrate to much greater depths and increasing the = production of weeds. Botulism thrives in decaying weeds and is apparently = ingested by the mussels, and another exotic species, a fish called the = round goby. Birds die when they eat the gobies or mussels. The outbreak is expected to end when the lake cools sometime in the next = couple of weeks. Copyright The New York Times Company | =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================