Arkansas News Bureau - Avian cholera suspected in snow geese deaths

Arkansas News Bureau - Avian cholera suspected in snow geese deaths

By Joe Mosby
Arkansas News Correspondent

A suspected outbreak of avian cholera has killed 1,300 to 1,500 snow geese at Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge in north-central Arkansas, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials.

The dead include some Ross' geese, a smaller cousin of snow geese.

Based on the description of symptoms provided by the refuge biologists, experts from both locations suspected avian cholera.

The outbreak is confined at present to snow geese and Ross' geese with no other species of waterfowl affected, Widner said. The birds are contained in a part of the refuge that is designated as a sanctuary and not accessible to the public.

"We are doing everything possible to contain the disease outbreak here at the refuge by not disturbing the rest of the flock of geese here now," Widner said. "While we can't capture the thousands of geese here, our recovery operations are designed to not chase them away from this site. This should help reduce the chance of spreading the disease."

Dr. Lou Sileo, a wildlife pathologist from the National Wildlife Health Center, made a field diagnosis at the refuge this week and said the snow geese found dead on the Bald Knob refuge most likely died from avian cholera, a bacterial infection which is one of the most prevalent diseases in waterfowl populations nationally.

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