Guest guest Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Thousands of Ducks Mysteriously Dying in Idaho December 14, 2006 — By Laura Zuckerman, Reuters SALMON, Idaho -- Officials scrambled Wednesday to determine what has caused the deaths of thousands of mallard ducks in south-central Idaho near the Utah border. Although wildlife experts are downplaying any links to bird flu, they have sent samples to government labs to test for the deadly H5N1 flu strain, among other pathogens. Officials with the federal Bureau of Homeland Security have been also called in to help with the probe. " We think the possibility of avian flu is very remote but we're not ruling anything out at this point in time, " said Dave Parish, regional supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. " We want to make sure all the bases are covered. " Wildlife officials are calling the massive die-off alarming, with the number of dead mallards rising from 1,000 Tuesday to more than 2,000 by Wednesday afternoon. " We've never seen anything like this -- ever, " Parrish said. Preliminary findings by state veterinarians suggest the mallards succumbed to a bacterial infection, officials said. They said it was unclear why a similar outbreak had never before occurred in Idaho. On Wednesday, officials outfitted with protective gear were gathering hundreds of mallard carcasses. Wildlife managers said the birds will be incinerated. Source: Reuters History repeats itself and each time the price gets higher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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