County hasn't seen new bird disease cases
While a pair of local experts have not seen a bird in Butler County with the strange illness that has killed thousands of songbirds from Florida to Delaware in recent months, they said local bird lovers should keep the feeders inside while scientists continue to study the problem.
The fatal illness, which the state Game Commission is calling a “songbird mortality event,” has been found in 27 counties in Pennsylvania, mostly in the eastern and middle sections of the state.
Experts are asking bird lovers to remove feeders, birdbaths and other backyard features that attract birds to help stem the spread of the unknown disease.
Beth McMaster, owner at Wildbird Recovery Center in Middlesex Township, said on Wednesday she has not received any sick or dead birds at her center displaying the symptoms associated with the mysterious disease.
She also has not seen any pictures of them on the email address she has set up specifically to receive photos of birds to determine if they might have the new disease.
Residents who have recent pictures of a bird or birds with eye issues, which McMaster said is always present in the illness, can send the photo to research@wildbirdrecovery.org.
She stressed that the e-mail address is only for photos of birds that could have the new disease associated with the songbird mortality event.
McMaster is also set up to receive birds suspected to have died from the illness through her partnership with Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures and the state Game Commission.Anyone who finds a deceased nestling, fledgling or adult songbird with obvious eye issues should use gloves to double-bag the bird and immediately bring it to her center at 120 Forsythe Road, Valencia, PA 16059.Those bringing a dead bird with the suspected illness should first call the center at 724-898-1788, McMaster said.Only birds with affected eyes, not any dead bird, should be brought to the center as soon as possible, she said.
McMaster has received calls from people wondering if a sick or dead bird they found was a victim of the new disease, which causes neurological symptoms in addition to crusty, affected eyes.“But I don't think what they are seeing is this disease,” she said.McMaster said her Wildbird Recovery Center page on Facebook has a plethora of information and links on the new disease, which she said is affecting mostly nestlings and fledglings.Jim Bonner, executive director of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, also said he is not aware of a bird with the unknown illness appearing in Butler County as yet.He said many people have called his office to report that they are not seeing many of a specific species or as many birds in general or that they've found a dead bird, but Bonner has not heard from a county resident reporting the symptoms associated with the recent illness.Bonner said researchers have ruled out many avian illnesses that can be fatal to birds, such as salmonella, virulent Newcastle disease, chlamydia, West Nile disease, avian pox and avian flu.
In encouraging news, he said the Washington D.C. area, where the disease originated, is reporting fewer cases of the illness.“So is it kind of a wave of disease, and only the weaker birds succumb?” Bonner said. “We are still trying to figure it out.”He said experts are hoping the disease disappears by migration time in the late summer and early fall, as the disease could be contagious and would be widely spread in areas where birds migrate.Bonner said the feeders remain absent at the society's two Butler County facilities, the Succop Nature Park in Penn Township and the Todd Nature Reserve in Sarver.He recommends county residents continue to keep the bird feeders down, including hummingbird feeders, in case the disease is contagious.
