Why Is Type E Botulism Killing Great Lakes Waterfowl?
Type E botulism, a neuromuscular disease caused when birds eat fish infected with toxin-producing bacteria, has become a deadly menace that stalks the loons, gulls and other water birds of the Great Lakes region. Cases of the disease are on the rise, killing approximately 10,000 more waterfowl in 2007 than when it was first reported in 1963. To understand die-off origin and distribution, ocean engineers from the Florida Atlantic University Institute for Ocean Systems Engineering in Dania Beach, Florida are using their expertise in experimental hydrodynamics. They have teamed with the U.S. Geological Survey to help develop a novel way of tracking waterfowl carcasses to determine the source of lethal outbreaks that infect fish eaten by waterbirds. read more