[mou] Salmonella on the West Coast

[Sharon Stiteler]

This was an article from the March 2005 Swarovski Birding E-bulletin put
together by Paul J. Baicich

FINCHES AND DISEASE IN THE WEST

In California, a West Nile Virus hotline has received numerous calls from
concerned residents reporting dead Pine Siskins in forested areas and
suburbs throughout the northern portion of the state.

As it turn out, it wasn't WNV at all, but rather was salmonellosis, a
bacterial disease not related to WNV.
                   
The California Department of Fish and Game announced the finding in
mid-February and asked Northern California residents to remove bird feeders
from their property for at least a month to help slow an outbreak of the
avian disease.
 
Salmonellosis is spread from bird to bird, and the largest die-offs often
occur in winter when birds are stressed from the cold and congregate at
bird feeders. Feces contaminate the feeders and infect other birds. Humans
are less likely to become seriously ill from an outbreak of salmonella
among birds, a strain that is similar to that found in uncooked poultry.
Nonetheless, people should be cautious and are advised to wear gloves and
wash their hands after cleaning birdfeeders. Salmonella is most often
ingested through contaminated food products, but can be transmitted through
unsanitary hand contact with the face.

There hasn't been a die-off this extensive in Northern California since a
similar outbreak occurred 10 or 12 years ago. Coincidentally, a few weeks
prior to the California announcement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
reported an outbreak of salmonellosis in Pine Siskins in the Juneau area of
Alaska. 

Elsewhere in Alaska there were reports of dead Common Redpolls at household
bird feeders in Fairbanks and vicinity. This winter season Common Redpolls
arrived early and in full force in Alaska. Usually not seen in the
Fairbanks area until January or February, record numbers were being seen as
early as October. The Christmas Bird Count documented 8,231 redpolls in
this year's annual tally, surpassing the previous record of 7,164 redpolls
counted in 1997.
 
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) suspected that the redpolls
were also dying of salmonellosis bacteria, but investigations actually led
to E. coli. Like salmonellosis, the E. coli bacteria is passed at feeders
as birds congregate. Feces left in, on and around the feeders will infect
other birds, and the disease can spread rapidly. The previous Common
Redpoll die-off in Fairbanks occurred about a decade ago and was a result
of salmonellosis. 


-- 
Sharon Stiteler
Minneapolis, MN
www.birdchick.com