Thousands of geese fall from Idaho sky in likely avian cholera outbreak

Not known whether snow geese contracted the disease during migration

Humans face small risk of contracting avian cholera

Reuters in Salmon, Idaho

Tuesday 17 March 2015 14.34 GMTLast modified on Tuesday 17 March 201515.27 GMT

Avian cholera is suspected in the deaths of at least 2,000 snow geese that fell dead from the sky in Idaho while migrating to nesting grounds on the northern coast of Alaska, wildlife managers said on Monday.

Dozens of Idaho department of fish and game workers and volunteers at the weekend retrieved and incinerated carcasses of snow geese found near bodies of water and a wildlife management area in the eastern part of the state, said agency spokesman Gregg Losinski.

Avian cholera is believed to be the culprit in the deaths mostly because of the way the birds died, he said.

“Basically, they just fell out of the sky,” said Losinski.

He said biologists were awaiting results from a state wildlife lab to confirm the birds died of the highly contagious disease, which is caused by bacteria that can survive in soil and water for up to four months.

Humans face a small risk of contracting the disease, but the more immediate threat is to wildlife in the vicinity of contaminated carcasses, Losinski said.

About 20 bald eagles were seen near areas where snow geese carcasses littered the ground, but a lengthy incubation period makes it unclear if the eagles were infected and would carry the ailment elsewhere, said Losinski.

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Avian cholera returns after decades, kills thousands of Nevada birds

Jeff DeLong, RGJ4:21 p.m. PST February 2, 2015

Thousands of birds have died at Walker Lake from a disease experts say hasn't made an appearance in Nevada in decades.

An estimated 3,000 birds — most of them American coots and ducks — have died in an outbreak of avian cholera since early December in an event that still is unfolding. As many as 10 percent of Walker Lake's ducks may have died.

"It is still an ongoing outbreak," said Peregrine Wolff, veterinarian for the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

The event marks the first time for an outbreak of avian cholera in Nevada since the 1980s, Wolff said.

The highly infectious and quick-killing disease is unrelated to the avian flu that has spread among waterfowl in neighboring states and which experts said last Friday was found in a duck in Nevada's Lincoln County late in January. Avian cholera poses no threat to people or dogs.

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Bay Area pond drained after avian cholera outbreak

Published 9:00 am, Saturday, January 11, 2014

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (AP) — Authorities are draining a pond in Redwood Shores after an avian cholera outbreak killed 185 ducks in one week.

The San Jose Mercury News reports (http://bit.ly/Kc6SWQ ) that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said Friday that the disease is not a threat to humans.

Officials say the cholera outbreak likely came from birds in the east San Francisco Bay area, where an outbreak was reported at a park in Hayward.

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Disease kills hundreds of seabirds in Alaska

Saturday December 7, 2013 7:00 PM

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A disease has killed hundreds of seabirds on an island in the Bering Sea — the first documented outbreak in the state.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says avian cholera is to blame for the birds found dead on the beaches of St. Lawrence Island, 200 miles from the mainland. The Anchorage Daily News reports (http://is.gd/yXJOYK ) that while the disease is common elsewhere, including in California, Nevada and Texas, this is the first confirmed outbreak in Alaska.

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