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Document Title:
Epizootiologic studies of avian vacuolar myelinopathy in waterbirds.
AUTHOR(S):
VOLUME:
38
ISSUE:
4
PAGES:
678 - 684
PUBLICATION DATE:
,
2002
ABSTRACT:
Epizootic avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM) was first recognized as a neurologic
disease in bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and American coots (Fulica americana) in Arkansas,
USA in 1994 and 1996, respectively, but attempts to identify the etiology of the disease
have been unsuccessful to date. Between 1998 and 2001, wing clipped sentinel birds (wild American
coots and game farm mallards [Anas platyrhynchos]) were released at Lake Surf, North
Carolina, a lake with recurrent outbreaks of AVM, in order to gain a better understanding of the
epizootiology of the disease. As early as 5–7 days post-release, sentinel coots and mallards showed
neurologic signs of disease and were confirmed with AVM upon histologic examination of their
brains. Serial releases of sentinel mallards during the summer, fall, and winter of 2000–01 demonstrated
that exposure to the causative agent at a threshold sufficient to manifest disease was
seasonal and occurred over about a 2 mo period, during November and December. Our findings
that disease onset can be very rapid (5–7 days) and that exposure to the causative agent of AVM
is site-specific, seasonal (late fall to early winter), and occurs over a relatively short duration
(several months) supports the hypothesis that the disease is caused by a chemical substance, most
likely of natural origin.
PUBLICATION:
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
PUBLISHED BY:
Wildlife Disease Association
DOCUMENT LINK:
http://www.fws.gov/contaminants/Library/jwdi_38_402.678_684.pdf, 50 KB
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Raliegh, North Carolina, Ecological Services Field Office
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