FSP - Microcosm News- Earth Watch Report: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

Showing posts with label Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Show all posts

Friday, January 3, 2014

Biological Hazard - State of Utah, [Utah-wide] : Mass Die Off (Bald Eagles) UPDATE - Experts not convinced that West Nile Virus is to blame for Bald Eagle Deaths

Earth Watch Report - Biological Hazards - Mass Animal Deaths

Unknown illness: This undated image provided by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah shows one of four bald eagles that were brought in with odd symptoms. All later died

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Biological Hazard

USA

State of Utah, [Utah-wide]

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Biological Hazard in USA on Friday, 03 January, 2014 at 04:05 (04:05 AM) UTC.

Description
A growing number of bald eagle deaths in Utah have left state wildlife officials without any solid explanations as they continue to dig into the mystery in search of answers. This month, 21 bald eagles have been found with a mysterious illness, of which 16 have died. Normally the state sees bald eagle numbers range between 700 and 1200 during their winter migration from the North and wildlife officials expect to see just a few cases of deaths or those needing help as a result of injuries or illness. The sudden number of deaths and unexplained symptoms has everyone worried. Residents began finding the downed eagles earlier this month, and at least nine have been taken to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah for treatment, which is currently taking care of four survivors. Rescuers there recount the difficulty of watching a fierce national symbol of strength inexplicably suffering from debilitating symptoms that include body tremors, seizures, paralysis, and weakness in their wings, legs and feet. "It's just hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures in a way it can't control ? when you can see it's pain but don't know what's happening to it," Buz Marthaler, co-founder of the rehabilitation center, told the LA Times. Experts are trying to rule out suspected causes, which range from diseases, neurotoxins, lead poisoning and radiation from the Fukushima meltdown. Leslie McFarlane, Utah wildlife disease coordinator, told Reuters that poisoning from lead ammunition has at least been ruled out in preliminary tests of carcasses by National Wildlife Health Center's lab in Wisconsin and that diseases are suspected because of the symptoms the eagles are showing. Other types of poisoning aren't high on the list of culprits because of the cases of eagles being found spread across several counties. The symptoms resemble West Nile virus, but according to McFarlane that would be unlikely because there are few mosquitoes at this time of year. Officials also looking into whether the deaths could have anything to do with a die-off of grebes at Great Salt Lake in November, which was caused by avian cholera �" a bacteria the eagles could have come into contact with by eating the infected birds. This week a wildlife official from Idaho reached out and said eagles there were also getting sick, which could mean the raptors were already ill before they got to Utah, according to the LA Times. Still, the worst fear seems to be identifying the cause and finding out that human intervention won't be able to stop it from killing more of these iconic birds. "There's all kinds of diseases out there in nature that take the lives of wildlife. You know, a lot of those diseases, there's not a whole lot that people can do about them. That's just what happens out in nature," Mark Hadley, a spokesman for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, told the Public News Service. While they wait for the results of mores tests, wildlife experts are advising people who find eagles who are downed or appear to be in distress to leave them be and call the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for help.
Biohazard name:	Mass. Die-off (bald eagle)
Biohazard level:	2/4 Medium
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. "Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures", see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

West Nile virus blamed for mysterious die-off of bald eagles that has killed 27 this month alone

At least 27 birds have died since the beginning of December
Symptoms, including paralysis and seizures, baffled experts
Lab tests confirmed cases of West Nile in dead and dying birds

By Associated Press Reporter
PUBLISHED: 11:30 EST, 1 January 2014 | UPDATED: 11:32 EST, 1 January 2014

The mystery illness that has killed 27 bald eagles in Utah this month appears to be West Nile Virus, state officials said Tuesday.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said in a statement Tuesday that that laboratory tests done on some of the first birds found indicate they died from West Nile Virus.
Since December 1, officials have found the birds in northern and central Utah. All were either dead or were ill and later died during treatment.

Unknown illness: This undated image provided by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah shows one of four bald eagles that were brought in with odd symptoms. All later died

The eagles displayed similar symptoms, including head tremors, signs of seizures, weakness in legs and feet and a paralysis of the bird's wings.
Beyond the 27 that have died, officials said five eagles were being treated at a wildlife rehabilitation center Tuesday. They appeared to be responding well to treatment, officials said.
Utah wildlife officials aren't sure how the eagles caught the virus, but they suspect the birds contracted it by eating Eared Grebes that were infected with the virus and died recently.
West Nile Virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, usually infects eagles and other birds during warmer months.

Read More Here

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Bald eagles dying in Utah from mystery ailment

Los Angeles Times

Published 7:43 pm, Sunday, December 29, 2013

This bald eagle is one of four that were brought to a Utah rehabilitation center with body tremors and paralysis before they eventually died. Twenty bald eagles have died in the state in the past few weeks, and a new ailing eagle surfaces almost daily. Scientists say the birds were not shot by hunters or poisoned. Photo: Associated Press
Salt Lake City --
Bald eagles are dying in Utah - 20 in the past few weeks alone - and nobody can figure out why.
Hundreds of the majestic birds - many with wing spans of 7 feet or more - migrate here each winter, gathering along the Great Salt Lake and feasting on carp and other fish that swim in the nearby freshwater bays.
Earlier this month, however, hunters and farmers across five counties in northern and central Utah began finding the normally skittish raptors lying listless on the ground. Many suffered from seizures, head tremors and paralysis in the legs, feet and wings.
Many of the eagles were brought to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, where Buz Marthaler and other handlers tried to save the birds. Within 48 hours most were dead.
"It's just hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures in a way it can't control - when you can see its pain but don't know what's happening to it," said Marthaler, 56, co-founder of the facility in Ogden.
State wildlife specialists are also baffled. For weeks, officials have sent birds for necropsies at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., hoping the results would offer clues.
Read More Here

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Science X network

Phys.Org

Bald eagle deaths in Utah alarm and mystify scientists

Dec 29, 2013 by John M. Glionna

Bald eagles are dying in Utah - 20 in the past few weeks alone - and nobody can figure out why.

Hundreds of the majestic birds - many with wing spans of 7 feet or more - migrate here each winter, gathering along the Great Salt Lake and feasting on carp and other fish that swim in the nearby freshwater bays.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-12-bald-eagle-deaths-utah-alarm.html#jCp

Earlier this month, however, hunters and farmers across five counties in northern and central Utah began finding the normally skittish raptors lying listless on the ground. Many suffered from seizures, head tremors and paralysis in the legs, feet and wings.
Many of the eagles were brought to the mammoth Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah, where Buz Marthaler - a longtime animal caretaker - and other handlers tried to save the birds. Within 48 hours most were dead.

"It's just hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures in a way it can't control - when you can see it's pain but don't know what's happening to it," said Marthaler, 56, co-founder of the facility in Ogden.
"As a human being, you just have problems with that. And when you lose one, it just grabs your heart."
State wildlife specialists are also baffled. For weeks, officials have sent birds for necropsies at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., hoping the results would offer clues.
They began to rule out obvious possibilities: The birds were not shot by hunters, and officials don't believe the birds were poisoned. "There doesn't seem to be anything suspicious in that regard," said Mitch Lane, a conservation officer with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, who has responded to numerous reports of downed or sick eagles.
Read More Here