BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Open Access
How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 1997 AVIAN BOTULISM—ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
G. Wobeser
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Waterfowl botulism is unique among intoxications because toxin produced within its victims leads to secondary poisoning of other birds. Because of this phenomenon, the epizootiology of the carcass-maggot cycle of botulism resembles that of an infectious disease and the reproductive rate (R) of the disease could be defined as the average number of secondary intoxications attributable to a single carcass introduced into a marsh. I propose that toxin production and botulism occur commonly at a low level in many marshes and that factors which influence R determine when the disease expands into a large epizootic. A model that incorporates the number of carcasses occurring in a marsh, the probability of a carcass containing spores, the probability of a carcass persisting until toxin-bearing maggots emerge, and the contact rate between live birds and toxin, may be useful for predicting the extent of secondary-poisoning, for identifying questions for research, and as a theoretical basis for management.

Wobeser: AVIAN BOTULISM—ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
G. Wobeser "AVIAN BOTULISM—ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 33(2), 181-186, (1 April 1997). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-33.2.181
Received: 30 April 1996; Published: 1 April 1997
KEYWORDS
Clostridium botulinum
epizootiology
management
model
research
waterfowl
Back to Top