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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend April 28, 2006 Officials investigate dozens of dead birds By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune State wildlife managers expect to know as early as today whether dozens of dead ducks discovered this week in Upper Klamath Lake are victims of an avian cholera outbreak. Eight ducks collected Wednesday by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists were expected to be tested today for the bacterial disease at a federal lab in Wisconsin. "If it is, in fact, cholera, they should know today," biologist Tom Collom said Thursday from the ODFW office in Klamath Falls. "If it's some other agent, it will take a little while longer to tease it out in tests." While surveying Upper Klamath Lake on Wednesday, Collom counted at least 60 dead ducks, mainly scaup and buffleheads. Avian cholera, also known as fowl cholera, is one of the most common diseases among wild North American waterfowl and is tracked monthly by the U.S. Geological Survey. Advertisement The disease is the result of infection with the bacteria that can kill within six to 12 hours after infection, according to the USGS. Live bacteria released into the environment by dead and dying birds can subsequently infect healthy birds. As a result, avian cholera can spread quickly through a wetland and kill hundreds to thousands of birds in a single outbreak. ODFW Wildlife Administrator Ron Anglin said the cholera poses no threat to humans or pets. It also is different from avian flu strain that biologists suspect could surface among migratory birds in the Pacific Flyway this year. Avian cholera was discovered in early March in the Tule Lake area of the Klamath Basin marshlands by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials who manage the federal refuge system there. This marks the first avian cholera outbreak in the Klamath Basin in five years, Collom said. No new reports of groups of dead waterfowl have been reported in the Rogue Valley or elsewhere in Oregon since the weekend discoveries in Upper Klamath Lake, Anglin said. The five scaup and three buffleheads collected Wednesday by Collom were sent to the U.S. Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisc., for testing. The Klamath Basin is a major stopover for waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway. Currently, migratory birds are headed north for the breeding season. Collom said they tend to remain in small flocks at this time. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s