NY/PA/OH
Sea
Grant:
Botulism
in Lakes Erie, Ontario
The
situation
For
bird watchers, the chance to
see
a common loon is exciting.
In the Fall 2000, though, their excitement turned to
disappointment as they found many of these beautiful birds washed
up along the New York shore of Lake Erie. And loons weren’t the only dead birds found in the Lakes. Hundreds
of mergansers, grebes, mallard ducks, ring-billed and herring
gulls, and other dead waterfowl littered the shoreline.
What
was the cause of death for these birds and fish that were beginning
to wash up on Lake Erie's shore in late 2000? And, as Sea Grant
announced in July 2002, on Lake Ontario's shore?
These birds were
killed by the bacterial disease botulism. According to the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the agency
in charge of collecting, counting and conducting pathology on
the birds, more than 5,000 birds were impacted by the outbreak
in 2000 alone.
The
response
Responding
to fish and bird die-offs along the shores of Lake Erie from
1999-2001, the staffs of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Sea
Grant wanted to understand the extent of the die-offs, gather
scientific information and explore the ecological impacts of
these botulism outbreaks. In order to achieve these goals, the
Sea Grant programs realized a need to create a functioning network
of involved agencies and individuals and organize a workshop
that would get this diverse binational group working together.
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What's
New?
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Comprehensive Q&A on Botulism (Apr'07) | More
NYSG
urges common sense in dealing with fish and Birds on Shoreline
(Nov'06)
| More
Presentations now available from Sea Grant's
2005 5th botulism workshop held in Buffalo April
'05 | More
Get the latest updates: sign up to be on our
botulism e-mail list | More
Keep track of the history: details
on previous events and updates | More
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