Avian botulism outbreak kills more than 14,000 birds

ERIE, Pa. (AP) -- Researchers say they've counted more than 14,000 birds killed by avian botulism along the Lake Erie shoreline this year -- which could mark the deadliest outbreak since the disease was discovered four years ago.
According to the federal Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., officials in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Ontario, Canada, have reported finding as many as 14,500 birds that died from Type E avian botulism.
Wildlife health officials warned the toll could be even higher because state agencies are collecting only a fraction of the birds that die.
"I think what we have seen is the tip of the iceberg," said Ward Stone, head of the New York Department of Conservation's Pathology Laboratory. "If you look at the loons and other birds, they are at the top point of the triangle. Below them you have all the fish and other species. It is a huge mass."
The worst of the outbreak should be over for now because colder weather is setting in and the birds most prone to the botulism -- such as loons and mergansers -- are migrating, said Eric Obert, a researcher with Pennsylvania Sea Grant.
Scientists first discovered an avian botulism outbreak on the shores of Lake Erie in 1999. There have been two dozen outbreaks there this summer and fall.
Researchers are still trying to figure out what causes outbreaks of the rare strain of botulism.