There are three levels of severity of castle disease in poultry. The severity of this particular virus for poultry has not yet been determined, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services National Wildlife Health Research Center in Madison, Wisconsin and other diagnostic laboratories are working on this problem. At this time, the outbreak has not been reported in poultry.
Reports of cormorant mortality in South Dakota involve 200-250 young at a site near Waubay National Wildlife Refuge. Young cormorants have also died on several islands in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. NDV has been confirmed in cormorants from the Canadian islands in Lake Huron and cause of death evaluations are continuing throughout the die-off area.
The Center has been monitoring disease progess since the first sightings of dead birds earlier this week. Center investigators are on-site in the Minnesota and South Dakota outbreak areas.
A second field team is being dispatched to the Lake Michigan - Lake Huron area to assess the distribution and magnitude of the problem there and evaluate potential control strategies. The Center is coordinating the disease monitoring with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and State Agricultural and Natural Resources Agencies of the affected areas as well as the pertinent Regions of the Service.
The Center is also maintaining communications with the Canadian Wildlife Service, Agriculture Canada, and others involved with the die-off in Canada. Cormorants, pelicans and other migratory birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Act is enforced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and safeguards the birds, their nests, or eggs from illegal killing or harm.
For further information about disease monitoring, contact the Centers Resource Health Team at (609) 271-4640, the North Central Regional Office at (612) 725-3519, or the Denver Regional Office (for questions regarding South Dakota) at (303) 236-7904.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
