hello tweets,

i thought you might be interested in this songbird disease update
that i just received today.

regards,

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
<><><>Graduate School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!<><><>


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thursday May 18, 2000, 4:09PM
From: Andre Dallaire <dallaira at medvet.umontreal.ca>


To comment on the previous posting regarding salmonellosis in songbirds in
the province of Quebec (Canada), it is not rare to encounter occasional
cases of infection associated with Salmonella in wild birds. Unusual
features of this outbreak were the high number of birds affected and the
fact that infected/dead birds found around feeders came from a large
geographical area within the province (lower Laurentians [area north of
metropolitan Montreal] but also from Montreal, Trois-RiviSres, L'Assomption
and Quebec). In addition, the bacterium was probably transmitted from
infected birds to domestic cats.

The Common Redpoll (_Carduelis flammea_) is a small songbird found in
southern Canada during winter time which usually flies back north for
breeding when summertime arrives. Dark-eyed juncos (_Junco hyemalis_),
House Finches (_Carpodacus mexicanus_) and an American Kestrel (_Falco
sparverius_) were also diagnosed with the infection. It is not completely
understood why salmonellosis pandemics occasionally occur in songbirds.
Asymptomatic carriers most likely start to excrete the bacteria when
submitted to environmental stress (sudden temperature changes, shortages of
food) and then contaminate the feeding place that other birds are using.

People usually notice sick small birds that stay put at the feeder for a
few days before death. Sick birds can be picked up by hands. Most affected
songbirds had decreased muscle mass and a fibrinonecrotizing ingluvitis
with occasional necrotic foci visible in other organs such as the spleen.
Group B _Salmonella_ was isolated in pure culture from all submitted
tissues. Most of these avian isolates were identified as _S. typhimurium_.
At the same time, veterinarians from private clinics within the Laurentian
region, north of Montreal, began receiving sick cats with anorexia, fever,
vomiting, diarrhea and occasionally with icterus. Group B Salmonella was
also isolated from 12 out of 18 fecal samples submitted from these cats.
Complete serovar identification and phagetyping of these isolates is still
pending. The zoonotic potential of having an infected cat within a
household is obvious. There have been no declared human cases as far as we
know.

--
Andre, D. Dallaire, DVM, MSc
Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Center - Saint-Hyacinthe branch
e-mail: dallaira at medvet.umontreal.ca

Robert Higgins, DVM, D.Sc.
Bacteriology Diagnostic Laboratory

Department of Pathology and Microbiology
Facult, de medecine veterinaire
Universit, de Montreal, Quebec

***
[2]
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 18:42:02 -0500
From: Kim Miller <kim_miller at usgs.gov>


There was a recent report on ProMED-mail regarding salmonellosis in Canada.
We've had some reports in the US as well and I wanted to pass along a brief
summary to you. I will be away from my office for the next few days, if
you have any questions on the info below, please contact my colleague, Dr
Kathy Converse at <kathy_converse at usgs.gov>

--
Kim Miller

The National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) has received reports of songbird
mortality at birdfeeders in New York, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia,
North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, and Georgia from other wildlife
diagnostic laboratories and private citizens. Mortality was first noted in
March with pine siskins and redpolls the primary species affected. Sick
birds were reported to perch for long periods of time with their feathers
"fluffed up".

Carcasses examined at NWHC, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease
Study, the Michigan Rose Lake Wildlife Research Center and New York Dept of
Conservation Wildlife Pathology Unit have been diagnosed with the bacterial
disease salmonellosis. _Salmonella typhimurium_, has been isolated and is
the strain commonly associated with songbird epizootics. _Salmonella_
bacteria are present in the intestines and pass out with the feces. The
bacteria can be transmitted through contact with an infected animal or
ingestion or food or water contaminated with fecal material from an
infected animal.

Salmonellosis is a common cause of songbird mortality in the US and
generally occurs as small, localized sporadic events. Occasionally
large-scale mortality occurs over a large geographic area. Most recently,
in the winter of 1998, salmonellosis mortality in goldfinch, redpolls, pine
siskins was confirmed in 16 states (primarily in the East and Midwest).

--
Kimberli J. G. Miller, DVM
Wildlife Disease Specialist
USGS
National Wildlife Health Center
6006 Schroeder Rd
Madison, WI 53711
e-mail: kim_miller at usgs.gov
..........................mhj/es
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