I've decided to stop lurking for a moment and inquire about sick birds at
feeders. Our lab has diagnosed occasional cases of avian salmonellosis in
birds at feeders in past years and I have seen newspaper reports of this
problem, but there have been many more cases through our lab this year
than usual. I'm curious whether tweeters have seen more sick birds at
feeders than usual this year. (I'm also curious how many people clean and
disinfect their birdfeeders on a regular basis.)

Also, does anyone have any information about the frequency with which
wild birds carry salmonella bacteria? I've seen some remarkably high
figures for gulls, but what about other groups?

(To avoid further illness, I'll avoid the jealousy that might arise if I
gave you the list of the common birds in my yard in rural Latah county,
Idaho.)

Tom Besser

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Phone: (509) 335-6075 Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab
FAX: (509) 335-8529 Dept. Vet. Microbiology and Pathology
e-mail: tbesser at vetmed.wsu.edu Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-7040
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