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comments by
Jim Goltz, Nelson Poirier, Nev Garrity

We've recovered an organism that we suspect to be Salmonella from the Common Redpoll that Andrew MacDougall found dead near his feeder. The isolate has been sent to Guelph, Ontario for serotyping and the final results will be reported upon completion.

Salmonellosis (= disease caused by the bacterium Salmonella) is transmissible from animals to humans and vice versa. The bacterium is shed in the feces and is usually acquired from ingestion. From time to time, outbreaks of bird mortality at bird feeders have been associated with this disease.

With a focus on birds and bird feeders, here are a few tips on how to minimize the risk of becoming infected with this organism and how to prevent its spread to other animals or humans:

1. Do not handle feces, sick or dead birds, or potentially contaminated objects with your bare hands. It is best to wear disposable gloves, or use an inverted plastic bag when handling any of the above. Be sure to thoroughly wash your hands with soap (a disinfectant soap such as hibitane hand cleanser is best) and hot water before eating, preparing or serving food (this includes preparing and handling food for birds).
2. Keep your bird feeders clean of fecal material, wet seeds and debris. Do not feed any feed that is suspected to be contaminated by feces.
3. Soap and water are good for cleaning soiled surfaces, but a disinfectant (such as a 1:10 dilution of household bleach) is needed to kill bacteria. (Since some soaps and disinfectants can be caustic or irritant to animals, be sure to throughly rinse any object you have cleaned.)
4. Be sure to promptly remove carcasses of animals that may have died of Salmonella infection and dispose of them hygienically (preferably by deep burial or incineration). Do not leave carcasses out where they can be a potential source of infection for wildlife or pets.

   My intent in posting this message is not to be alarmist but to keep birds and people who feed birds happy and healthy.

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   And from Nelson Poirier:

   Information I'm getting is putting the whole SALMONELLOSIS scenario into perspective. The value of removing feeders is very much in question, as birds are continuing to try to feed on the ground below where the feeders were hanging, right where the Salmonella organism may be most prevalent. It is a personal decision of course, but I can't help but wonder if leaving feeders up, keeping them clean and removing any sick or dead birds as quickly as possible may be the best route to follow.

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   And from Nev Garrity:

   Nev reports that the Canadian WildLife Service in Sackville received reports of dead Redpolls at 41 locations in NB, 10 in NS and 0 in PEI. Interestingly the areas of NB not reporting dead Redpolls, (Upper Saint John River Valley, and St Andrews area), also reported fewer live ones then usual as well.

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   And some final questions for Jim:

   1. Is there actually more disease this year or just better reporting via NatureNB and the internet?

   Answer: As far as I can determine, this year's massive Salmonella outbreak in Common Redpolls (and to a lesser extent in other small finches) was the first reported outbreak of this disease in wild songbirds in New Brunswick. I have seen it in Double-crested Cormorants from northern New Brunswick. Salmonellosis in songbirds was formerly mainly a small scale problem affecting very local areas, and often only individual feeders. When I lived in Guelph in the late 1970s and early 1980s we would have occasional small outbreaks in House Sparrows and Rock Doves, and an occasional death in Northern Cardinals. In the past few years, there have been large outbreaks in western Canada. I have never before heard of such a massive outbreak in the east.

   NatureNB has been invaluable in helping keep track of finch mortality in New Brunswick this winter. From the few necropsies that were done, we have extrapolated that most of the mortality was presumably due to Salmonellosis. It may well turn out to be a cyclic disease, but little is known as to why or how the problem started.

   One of the big problems with tracking disease in wildlife is that we only see the tip of the iceberg. Many people would be interested in submitting carcasses and/or reporting disease if there were no cost and if an agency were willing to serve as a reporting centre. Unfortunately, we have to charge for any work that we do at the New Brunswick Provincial Veterinary Laboratory. At the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown, necropsy work on wildlife is fully covered by grant money from the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre. Our own Department of Natural Resources and Energy no longer seems to be interested in tracking disease in wildlife, although a number of individuals in that department certainly still are.

   2. I understand the Salmonella is in the feces, so does it stay in the ground over the summer to reinfect Redpolls next year? Is there anything people can do to lessen the chance - relocate their feeders, cleanup under them?

   Answer: Salmonella can evidently survive for very long times (months) in cool moist shady conditions, but does not survive well in sunny dry conditions. I'd suggest that the best thing that people can do is to clean up as much of the spilled seed and husks as possible, as early in the year as they can get at these. These should be disposed of by incineration, deep burial or composting (for a long time). The feeders should also be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. As an added safety precaution, it may not hurt to relocate the feeders, if possible, particularly if a good clean-up has not been done.