Botulism...Or Is It?

Erica Miller; Emily Brunner; Cindy Driscoll; Peter McGowan

doi:10.53607/wrb.v31.51

Authors

Erica Miller DVM New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife
Emily Brunner Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc.
Cindy Driscoll DVM Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Peter McGowan US Fish & Wildlife Service

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53607/wrb.v31.51

Keywords:

Botulism, Clostridium botulinum–Type C, Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB), microcystins, avian toxicoses, Poplar Island MD, blue–green algae (Cyanobacteria), phycotoxins, cyanotoxins

Abstract

In August 2012, during routine surveys of Poplar Island, MD, shorebirds and ducks were found in varying stages of paralysis. Some birds were ‘wing walking,’ others could barely hold up their heads, some had lost function of the nictitans, and many more were dead. These clinical signs, combined with the location, climate, and water conditions, were highly suggestive of avian botulism. As biologists from the US Fish & Wildlife Service teamed with the MD state wildlife veterinarian, Maryland Environmental Service, and staff and volunteers from Tri–State Bird Rescue & Research to capture and care for the affected birds, laboratory tests suggested something besides botulism might be present. This presentation describes the combined efforts of these groups and six separate laboratories to unravel the mystery of this epornitic and to provide treatment to those birds rescued live.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Erica Miller DVM, New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife

Erica Miller is a wildlife veterinarian with the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife. She is a past president and former board member of NWRA.

Emily Brunner, Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc.

Emily Brunner is a Clinic Supervisor at Tri–State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc., in Newark, DE. She has a B.S. in Zoology and has been rehabilitating wildlife for three years.

Cindy Driscoll DVM, Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Cindy Driscoll has been the wildlife veterinarian with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for 15 years and University of Maryland, Wildlife Diseases course coordinator and instructor for 20 years.

Peter McGowan, US Fish & Wildlife Service

Peter McGowan is a wildlife biologist for the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Chesapeake Bay Field Office in Annapolis, Maryland. He has been responsible for wildlife management activities at the Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Project at Poplar Island for the past eight years.

References

Carmichael, W., and R. Li. 2006. Cyanobacteria Toxins in the Salton Sea. Saline Systems. 2: 5. Available from: <http://en.youscribe.com/catalogue/reports‒and‒theses/knowledge/cyanobacteria‒toxins‒in‒the‒salton‒sea‒2055897>.

Cohn, J. P. 2000. Saving the Salton Sea. BioScience. 50(4): 295–301.

CSU, Colorado State University, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. 2003. Case 11–024–031 (AFIP 2888659): Pastured Adult, Female, Gelbvieh Bovine. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Department of Veterinary Pathology. Wednesday Slide Conference #6. 22 October.

Creekmore, L. H. 1999. Algal Toxins. Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases. (M. Friend and J. C. Franson, editors). USDI, USGS: Washington, D.C. Pp. 271–281. Also available at: <http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/pub_metadata/field_manual/chapter_36.pdf>.

Cubas, Z. S. 1993. Natural Diseases of Free‒ranging Birds in South America. Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine: Current Therapy 3. (Fowler, M. editor)

W. B. Saunders, Co: Philadelphia, PA.

Driscoll, C. P., P. C. McGowan, E. A. Miller, and W. W. Carmichael. 2002. Proceedings of the Southeast Fish and Wildlife Conference. Baltimore; Case Report: Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Morbidity and Mortality Investigation in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. 24 October 2002.

Forbes, N. A. 1996. Nervous Diseases. Manual of Raptors, Pigeons and Waterfowl. (P. H. Benyon, editor) Iowa State University Press: Ames, IA.

Gomez, H. F., R. Johnson, H. Guven, P. McKinney, S. Phillips, F. Judson, and J. Brent. 1995. Adsorption of Botulinum Toxin to Activated Charcoal with a Mouse Bioassay. Annuals of Emergency Medicine. 25(6): 818–822.

Hooser, S. B. and P. A. Talcott. 2001. Blue–green Algae. Small Animal Toxicology. (M. E. Peterson and P. A. Talcott, editors). W. B. Saunders Company: Philadelphia, PA.

Hunter, B. F., W. E. Clark, P. J. Perkins, and P. R. Coleman. 1970. Applied Botulism Research Including Management Recommendations: A Progress Report. California Dept. Fish & Game: Rancho Cordova, CA. 87 Pp.

Jensen, W. I. 1981. Evaluation of Coproexamination as a Diagnostic Test for Avian Botulism. Journal of Wildlife Disease. 17(2): 171–176.

Johnson, T. J., and S. R. Carpenter. 2010. Influence of Eutrophication in Disease in Aquatic Ecosystems. Infectious Disease Ecology: Effects of Ecosystems on Disease and of Disease on Ecosystems (R. S. Ostfeld, F. Keesing, V. T. Eviner, editors). Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.

Jones, B. 1984. Rehabilitation of Birds Affected by Botulism in a Salt Marsh. Wildlife Rehabilitation: Proceedings of the New York State Wildlife Rehabilitation Seminars. (M. Forness, editor).

Landsberg, J. H., G. A. Vargo, L. J. Flewelling, F. E. Wiley. 2007. Algal Biotoxins. Infectious Diseases of Wild Birds. (N. J. Thomas, D. B. Hunter, and C. T. Atkinson, editors). Blackwell Publishing: Ames, IA.

McComb, A. J., and J. A. Davis. 1993. Eutrophic Waters of Southwestern Australia. Fertilizer Research. 36 (2): 105–114.

Miller, M. A., R. M. Kudela, A. Mekebri, D. Crane, S. C. Oates, et al. 2010. Evidence for a Novel Marine Harmful Algal Bloom: Cyanotoxin (Microcystin) Transfer from Land to Sea Otters. PLoS ONE. 5(9). Available from: <http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0012576>.

Murphy, T., A. Lawson, C. Nalewajko, H. Murkin, L. Ross, K. Oguma, and T. McIntyre. 2000. Algal Toxins—Initiators of Avian Botulism? Environmental Toxicology. 15: 558–567.

NOAA. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic Data Center. Accessed weather for Poplar Island, MD in August 2012 and average temperatures and rainfall for the month of August in Poplar Island. Available online at: <http://www.ncdc. noaa.gov>.

Park, H., M. Namikoshi, S. M. Brittain, W. W. Carmichael, T. Murphy. 2001. [D–Leu(1)] microcystin–LR, a New Microcystin Isolated from Waterbloom in a Canadian Prairie Lake. Toxicon. 39(6): 855–862.

Rocke, T. E., and T. K. Bollinger. 2007. Avian Botulism. Infectious Diseases of Wild Birds. (N. J. Thomas, D. B. Hunter, and C. T. Atkinson, editors). Blackwell Publishing: Ames, IA.

Rocke, T. E., and M. Friend. 1999. Avian Botulism. Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases. (M. Friend and J. C. Franson, editors). USDI, USGS, Washington, D.C. Pp. 271–281. Also available at: <http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/pub_metadata/field_manual/chapter_38.pdf>.

Segner, W. P., C. F. Schmidt, and J. K. Boltz. 1971. Minimal Growth Temperature, Sodium Chloride Tolerance, pH Sensitivity and Toxin Production of Marine and Terrestrial Strains of Clostridium botulinum type C. Applied Microbiology. 22: 1025–1029.

van der Merwe, D., L. Sebbag, J. C. Nietfeld, M. T. Aubel, A. Foss, and E. Carney. 2012. Investigation of a Microcystis aeruginosa cyanobacterial freshwater harmful algal bloom associated with acute microcystin toxicosis in a dog. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation. 24: 679.