JWD Subscribe to eTOC alerts
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 43(2), 2007, pp. 206-213
© Wildlife Disease Association  2007
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Saito, E. K.
Right arrow Articles by Docherty, D. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Saito, E. K.
Right arrow Articles by Docherty, D. E.

RAPTOR MORTALITY DUE TO WEST NILE VIRUS IN THE UNITED STATES, 2002

 Emi K. Saito1,2,3, Louis Sileo1, D. Earl Green1, Carol U. Meteyer1, Grace S. McLaughlin1, Kathryn A. Converse1 and Douglas E. Docherty1

1 US Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, 6006 Schroeder Road, Madison Wisconsin 53711, USA
3 Corresponding author (email: emi.k.saito{at}aphis.usda.gov)

ABSTRACT:   West Nile virus (WNV) has affected many thousands of birds since it was first detected in North America in 1999, but the overall impact on wild bird populations is unknown. In mid-August 2002, wildlife rehabilitators and local wildlife officials from multiple states began reporting increasing numbers of sick and dying raptors, mostly red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) and great horned owls (Bubo virginianus). Commonly reported clinical signs were nonspecific and included emaciation, lethargy, weakness, inability to perch, fly or stand, and nonresponse to danger. Raptor carcasses from 12 states were received, and diagnostic evaluation of 56 raptors implicated WNV infection in 40 (71%) of these cases. Histologically, nonsuppurative encephalitis and myocarditis were the salient lesions (79% and 61%, respectively). Other causes of death included lead poisoning, trauma, aspergillosis, and Salmonella spp. and Clostridium spp. infections. The reason(s) for the reported increase in raptor mortality due to WNV in 2002 compared with the previous WNV seasons is unclear, and a better understanding of the epizootiology and pathogenesis of the virus in raptor populations is needed.
  Key words:  Avian disease, avian viral infection, histopathology, raptor mortality, West Nile virus.

2 Current address: USDA–APHIS–VS, 1800 Dayton Avenue, Ames, Iowa 50010, USA






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2007 by the Wildlife Disease Association.