Subject: Fw: PRO/AH> Mammal, bird die-off, domoic acid - USA (CA)
Date: May 27 20:01:08 2002
From: Jim McGough - jmcgough at nwlink.com



----- Original Message -----
From: "ProMED-mail" <promed at promed.isid.harvard.edu>
To: <promed-ahead at promedmail.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 12:56 AM
Subject: PRO/AH> Mammal, bird die-off, domoic acid - USA (CA)


>
> MAMMAL, BIRD DIE-OFF, DOMOIC ACID - USA (CA)
> ********************************************
> A ProMED-mail post
> <http://www.promedmial.org>
> ProMED-mail, a program of the
> International Society for Infectious Diseases
> <http://www.isid.org>
>
> Date: Weds 22 May 2002 4:36 AM EDT
> From: ProMED-mail <promed at promedmail.org
> Source: AP Online [edited]
>
>
> Algae deadly for Californian marine mammals
> -------------------------------------------
> Birds falling from the sky. Pelicans having seizures. Dolphins dying on
> beaches. For 2 months, a growing number of marine mammals and birds have
> been dying along the California coast. About 70 dolphins have washed up on
> state beaches, while more than 200 sea lions and 200 seabirds have become
> sick or died.
>
> One of the leading suspects is domoic acid, a potent toxin attacking the
> brain. The naturally occurring toxin is produced by the plankton [genus]
> _Pseudonitzschia_. The toxin moves up the food chain from the slender,
> glass-shelled diatoms to sardines, anchovies, crabs, and other shellfish
> that in turn become dinner for birds and marine mammals.
>
> "There's dead pelicans on the beach, and then these weird ones having
> seizures," said Jay Holcomb, director of the International Bird Rescue
> Research Center. "We had the public calling in, saying, 'These birds are
> falling out of the sky'."
>
> Blooms of pseudonitzschia have occurred before but experts say it was only
> recently that sealife deaths were linked to them. Scientists warn that
> other types of microscopic sea life also can produce toxins.
>
> This month record high levels of domoic acid, up to 380 parts per million
> (ppm), have been found in mussels taken from Santa Barbara waters. The
> federal alert level is 20 ppm, said Gregg Langlois, a marine biologist
with
> the state's Department of Health Services. Some researchers believe domoic
> acid poisoning caused an incident in 1961 that partly inspired Alfred
> Hitchcock's film "The Birds". Seabirds that may have eaten tainted
> anchovies descended on villages in the Santa Cruz area, nipping people,
> staggering around, smashing windows, and smacking into cars and houses.
>
> No human illnesses have been reported in California but state health
> officials advise against eating locally sport-harvested shellfish, crabs,
> sardines, and anchovies. Commercially harvested seafood is considered safe
> because it is inspected.
>
> Humans eating tainted seafood can get amnesic shellfish poisoning, which
> can cause twitching, nausea, permanent short term memory loss, and even
> death. High domoic acid levels prompted a partial shutdown of mussel
> harvesting along Prince Edward Island in Canada last month. The link
> between the acid and human illness was discovered there in 1987 after more
> than 100 islanders became ill and several died from eating tainted
mussels.
>
> In 1991 the crab season in Washington, Oregon and California was halted
> after tests detected domoic acid in crab meat. The deaths of more than 400
> California sea lions in 1998 also were traced to the acid. But research
> into the plankton is so recent that nobody is sure what sparks the algae
> growth or why the cells produce different levels of the toxin at different
> times. California's long coastline means many more animals might have
> perished out of sight of the public. Also, the deaths could have a larger
> impact by whittling down isolated breeding colonies and by killing off
> mothers during breeding season.
>
> By some estimates, harmful algal blooms have caused more than $1 billion
in
> losses in the United States in the past several decades, including loss of
> tourism, fisheries and the costs of treating public illnesses, according
to
> the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some bacteria and
> viruses attack certain algae species but more research is needed before a
> biological remedy might be available. Even then, the impact on the
> environment would be uncertain.
>
> "It's a complex biological system and I don't think we have any idea of
> what will happen if you begin to perturb it," said Christopher Scholin,
> staff scientist with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. "You
> might get something worse." The latest outbreak began in March in northern
> California. The high levels found in Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay subsided
> and the problem now is concentrated in the south, Langlois said.
>
> The Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro has treated about 170 sea
lions.
> "They come in exhibiting seizures. Some are comatose. They're disoriented,
> lethargic," director Jackie Jaakola said.
>
> Further information on the internet:
> Marine Mammal Care Center: <http://www.mar3ine.org/mmcc/>
> Algal bloom information: <http://www.redtide.whoi.edu/hab/>
> NOAA: <http://state-of-coast.noaa.gov/bulletins/html/hab-14/hab.html>
>
> ??
> ProMED-mail
> <promed at promedmail.org>
>
> [Domoic acid is a neurotoxic tricarboxylic amino acid structurally related
> to kainic and glutamic acids. It was chemically identified after its
> isolation in 1958 from the seaweed _Chondria armata_, found off the coast
> of Japan. In 1987, more than 100 people became ill, and several people
> died, following the consumption of blue mussels caught off Prince Edward
> Island, Canada. Canadian scientists found that domoic acid had entered the
> food chain when the mussels fed on a toxic algal bloom of the pennate
> diatom _Pseudonitzschia pungens_ forma multiseries. - Mod.TG]
>
> [see also:
> Dolphin/sea lion die-off, domoic acid - USA (CA) (02) 20020426.4035
> Dolphin/sea lion die-off, domoic acid - USA (CA) 20020422.4011
> Shellfish ban, domoic acid - Canada (NB) 20020422.4010
> Domoic acid, razor clams - USA (Washington) 20020405.3886
> Dolphin die-off, domoic acid - USA (Calif.) (02) 20020331.3846
> Dolphin die-off, domoic acid? - USA (California) 20020325.3817
> 2000
> ---
> Sea lions, seizures, domoic acid - USA (Calif.) 1998 20000107.0018
> 1996
> ?--
> Domoic acid 19960209.0275]
>
> ..........................mpp/tg/sh
>
> *##########################################################*
> ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that
> are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
> information, and of any statements or opinions based
> thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
> using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID
> and its associated service providers shall not be held
> responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any
> damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted
> or archived material.
> ************************************************************
> Visit ProMED-mail's web site at <http://www.promedmail.org>.
> Send all items for posting to: promed at promedmail.org
> (NOT to an individual moderator). If you do not give your
> full name and affiliation, it may not be posted. Send
> commands to subscribe/unsubscribe, get archives, help,
> etc. to: majordomo at promedmail.org. For assistance from a
> human being send mail to: owner-majordomo at promedmail.org.
> ############################################################
> ############################################################
>