Hundreds of ducks dead in California amid reports of bird flu and botulism

According to the California Waterfowl Association, an outbreak of avian botulism has broken out in the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex after a period of warm weather caused stagnant water in the refuge complex’s wetlands. CWA biologists were in the field surveying native waterfowl populations last week when they noticed lethargic birds struggling to keep their heads above water.

Lethargy and accidental drowning due to weakness in the neck are hallmark symptoms of avian botulism, said Mark Hennelly, CWA vice president of advocacy. Outdoor living. Now he estimates that hundreds of birds have died from the disease, which stems from what he calls a maggot cycle. When waters recede, revealing a buildup of bacteria Clostridium botulinum In the soil and in plant material, these bacteria produce toxins that cause birds that feed on them to become sick and die. The floating carcasses become hosts for fly larvae, which in turn become carriers of the disease. Living ducks then eat the larvae of the dead ducks and become infected themselves.

“I don’t know if they brought birds to a lab to confirm their presence. [the disease] not yet,” Hennelly said. “But our biologists believe it is a combination of avian botulism and also avian influenza at Tule Lake [National Wildlife Refuge]. It looks like about 500 birds have disappeared so far, that’s what our biologists have seen on the water.”

CWA has announced the presence of botulism in the refuges in a Instagram post Friday. A spokesperson for the US Fish and Wildlife Service says Outdoor living that avian botulism has not yet been confirmed in either refuge and that High Path Avian Influenza has only been confirmed in the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge.

“We are aware of additional waterfowl deaths at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge and are investigating the cause of death,” the spokesperson confirmed in an email. “There are currently no closures at the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge Complex … We will notify the public via our website and Facebook pages if there are any changes.”

Hennelly noted that the presence of avian influenza could complicate the response to an outbreak. Sending wildlife technicians into the wetlands to collect dead birds is not without risk, as people catch bird fluhe says, although human cases are rare.

The birds currently affected by the refuge’s outbreaks are native waterfowl populations, many of which use the wetlands as a refuge from predation during molting. The Lower Klamath Refuge Complex also serves as a major stopover on the Pacific Flyway. It’s a mecca for waterfowl enthusiasts, though it has been closed to waterfowl hunting in recent years due to extreme water shortages. Hennelly fears that could happen again this year.

“First and foremost, we want to take care of the birds,” he said. “But if there’s no water delivery later in the summer or fall, it becomes pretty difficult to have a hunting program on wetlands, especially on the Lower Klamath side.”

To mitigate the worst effects of an avian botulism outbreak, Hennelly says the sanctuary needs more water as soon as possible. CWA and Ducks Unlimited have appealed to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to release more water through the river’s various dams to the sanctuary. They are also working with the USFWS.

Read more: A Pacific waterfowl oasis ran out of water. These duck hunters are footing the bill for more

“In the short term, we need to get water there,” Hennelly said. “But it’s also important that we don’t lose sight of the long-term solutions, and we really need to look at ways to fix this and prevent it from happening again in the future.”

The Klamath River is also the source of major agricultural production and of the endangered Chinook salmon, a species of cultural importance to the Klamath Tribes of Oregon.

“It’s not just the waterfowl that are concerned, we need to get the ranchers involved and all the federal agencies involved,” Hennelly said. “The [Klamath] Tribes want to help the reservation, it’s just a matter of trying to find some flexibility. They want to see that the fish in the Klamath River are protected. If there’s extra water that they can throw at the reservation, that would be appreciated. They support making sure that there’s wetland habitat on the reservation lands. They’re a partner that needs to be involved.”