- Hello, Jeff - There is little information regarding the
deaths of pigeons. Given the circumstances of their deaths, i.e. neurological,
I decided to follow through and try to ascertain what is happening.
- I seem to recall pigeon deaths in this area several months
ago.
-
- I will try to get more information and update you. The
symptoms do sound very similar to the Brant Geese die-off in New Jersey
a couple of years ago.
-
- If you post this information, please request anyone in
the area of the pigeon deaths to contact me. I would like to ascertain
the numbers of dead pigeons. Large numbers of dead pigeons spread throughout
the town and/or county would indicate more then backyard feed poisoning.
-
- Patricia
-
- A ProMED-mail post
- ProMED-mail is a program of the
- International Society for Infectious Diseases
- http://www.isid.org
-
-
-
- Unexplained Pigeons Deaths In Texas
-
- By Matt Phinney
- 2-15-3
-
- The City of San Angelo Animal Service wants to have a
live pigeon
- tested after receiving several reports of pigeons quickly
dying in
- downtown San Angelo, Texas.
-
- Animal Service director Leslie Hart said the department
has received
- 5 or 6 calls in the last 24 to 48 hours from citizens
who have seen
- "disoriented" pigeons that soon died. Witnesses
described the pigeons
- as "trying to fly, but can't," and that "can't
find their balance,"
- Hart said.
-
- Animal services wants to capture a live pigeon that shows
such signs,
- Hart said. Once captured, the pigeon would be tested
by a local
- veterinarian.
-
- "We don't know what it is, and we just want to get
it checked out,"
- she said. "to run the test."
-
- [Such incidents are rather common -- mostly with a toxicological
- background, though infectious agents cannot be ruled
out. We have
- decided to post the item in view of the current need
for increased
- vigilance. - Mod.AS] ................arn/pg/lm
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.clickitnews.com/emergingdiseases/index.shtml
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
-
-
- Residents Puzzled By Dead Birds
-
- By Fabian Sandler
- Lake Houston Sun
- 2-12-3
-
- People in the building just north of the railroad track
on FM 2100 in Crosby witnessed a strange sight last Tuesday morning. Twenty-three
dead birds were strewn around the lawn and parking lot on the south side
of the building.
-
- Carla Carpenter of Aldo's and a neighbor found the birds.
-
- "They seem to be all female," said Carpenter.
"The neighbor behind us called the health department and got no answer,
so my receptionist, Sheryl, called twice and wound up leaving a message
and also giving an address in case they wanted to come pick them up. We
have young kids in the shopping center. The shop next door is for children."
-
- Carpenter said she hasn't heard a word from the health
department. People in the area are concerned that the birds may have some
disease that killed them. The neighbor in the building's corner shop told
Carpenter that she heard a few of the birds strike the pane glass windows
on the south side of the building. They speculated that perhaps the sun
shone against the window, temporarily blinding the flying birds; or, that
the birds were caught in a wind gust that drove them into the wall.
-
- "I'm thinking they were sick," Carpenter said.
"That evening a neighbor's kid went to a bird and started poking it.
It tried to fly and wobbled and it couldn't fly."
- Carpenter said a cat had dragged a few of the dead birds
away. There were fewer carcasses two days later, according to Carpenter.
-
- Sheryl Bauer, the receptionist at Aldo's, said she is
now worried about the cat getting sick. Carpenter is baffled by the authorities'
lack of interest. "What upsets me is calling them (the health department)
on the day that we found the birds. They haven't come out, and now here
it is raining and we have a mess and today's the third day," she said.
-
- Carpenter said she was told to call Houston Health Department
since there is no appropriate department in Harris County. Bauer wondered
why, if the birds were all sick, they were not found all around the building
instead of only on the south side. Her main concern, however, is for the
neighborhood children who may find the dead birds and touch them.
-
- For now, ravaged by disease or not, the dead birds remain
on the ground.
-
- ©Lake Houston Sun 2003
|
