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Distribution
Cause Avian cholera was unreported in free-living mi-
Avian cholera is a highly infectious disease gratory birds in the United States before 1944.
caused by the bacterium, Pasteurella multocida. Losses have now been reported coast-to-coast and
Acute infections are common and can result in border-to-border. The occurrence of this disease
death 6 to 12 hours after exposure. Under these cir- within the United States has increased dramati-
cumstances “explosive” die-offs involving more than cally since 1970, and avian cholera now ranks with
1,000 birds per day have occurred in wild water- avian botulism and lead poisoning as major causes
fowl. More chronic infections with longer incubation of waterfowl mortality. The frequency and severity
times and less dramatic losses also occur. Transmis- of avian cholera outbreaks vary greatly among ar-
sion can occur by bird-to-bird contact, ingestion of eas (Figure 2). This disease has also been diagnosed
contaminated food or water, and perhaps in aerosol in waterfowl in many countries, including Canada,
form. but not Mexico. This is probably due to the lack of
surveillance and reporting rather than to absence of
this disease in Mexico.
Species Affected In the United States there are four major focal
points for avian cholera in waterfowl: the Central
It is likely that most species of birds and mam- Valley of California; the Tulare Lake and Klamath
mals can become infected with P. multocida. Most Basins of northern California and southern Oregon;
(if not all) bird species are susceptible to clinical dis- the Texas Panhandle; and Nebraska’s Rainwater
ease following exposure to virulent strains of P. Basin. The movement of avian cholera from these
multocida commonly found in waterfowl. Specific re- areas follows the well-defined pathways of water-
lations between bird and mammal strains of this fowl movement. Spread of this disease along
bacterium are not well understood. Strains isolated the Missouri and Mississippi river drainages is also
Adapted from: Friend, M., editor. 1987. Field guide to wildlife diseases. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Resour. Publ. 167. 225 pp.
Gross Lesions
Figure 1. Relative occurrence of avian cholera in wild
birds. Under most conditions, birds that have died of
avian cholera have substantial amounts of subcuta-
neous and visceral fat (except for seasonal losses of
consistent with waterfowl movement. No consistent
fat). The most prominent lesions seen at necropsy
patterns of avian cholera outbreaks exist within the
involve the heart and liver and sometimes the giz-
Atlantic Flyway except for periodic occurrences in
zard. Hemorrhages of various sizes are frequently
eiders nesting off the coast of Maine (Figure 3).
found on the surface of the heart muscle or the coro-
nary band. Hemorrhages are also sometimes visible
on the surface of the gizzard. Areas of tissue death
Seasonality that appear as small white to yellow spots are com-
Losses can occur at any time of the year. A ma- monly seen within the liver. Where the area of
jor loss of snow geese occurred in spring on tissue death is greater, the spots are larger and in
Canadian breeding grounds, in addition to losses of some instances the area of tissue death is quite ex-
breeding eiders in Maine and Quebec. Outbreaks in tensive.
California normally start during fall and continue The lower portions of the digestive tract (below
into spring. Late winter is the peak time for avian the gizzard) commonly contain thickened yellowish
cholera in the Texas Panhandle, and spring migra- fluid that is heavily laden with P. multocida.
tion has resulted in annual losses from this disease
in Nebraska’s Rainwater Basin since 1975 and in
western Saskatchewan, Canada, since 1977. Diagnosis
As with all diseases, isolation of the causative
Field Signs agent is required for a definitive diagnosis. Submit-
ting a whole carcass provides the diagnostician with
Few sick birds are seen during avian cholera the opportunity to evaluate gross lesions seen at ne-
outbreaks because of the acute nature of this dis- cropsy and also provides all appropriate tissues for
ease. However, the number of sick birds increases isolation of P. multocida.
when a die-off is prolonged over several weeks. Sick When it is not possible to send whole carcasses,
birds often appear lethargic or drowsy and can be tissues should be sent that can be collected in as
U NI T E D ST AT E S D E PAR T ME NT OF T H E I NT E R I OR
F I SH AND W I L D L I F E SE R VI CE
F ish and Wildlif e L eaf let 13
W ashington, D.C. • 1989