Dead Ducks In Idaho - Death toll now at 3400

The Department of Homeland Security has been called out to investigate the death of more than 2000 mallards in southeastern Idaho. Currently, it's unknown whether these ducks are spreading an infection amongst each other or if they are dying off from another source. Dave Parrish, regional supervisor for Idaho's Fish and Game, hasn't seen anything like this in 20 years.


Thousands of ducks mysteriously dying in Idaho Reuters
More Than 2000 Mallard Ducks Die Along Idaho Creekbed KIFI, ID
Duck Die-Off in Idaho Sparks Fears Houston Chronicle, TX

Could this be the first big outbreak of H5N1? Some are speculating it is from poison or a toxic leak, were as DHS's involvement just adds to the strangeness.

Related ATS Thread: 1000's of ducks mysteriously dying in Idaho

[edit on 14-12-2006 by UM_Gazz]

[edit on 12/14/2006 by Gools]

I think it's good that DHS is involved in the investigation.

You don't really want to leave anything to chance. It is highly possible that this is nothing more than some sort of bacterial infection that spread, however, it's also possible that water samples may turn up a poisonous substance as well. So it's really not to say that DHS needs to be heading up the operation but they should certainly be involved.

Update: Death toll now at 3400 and we may never know the source.




If it was due to a toxin or chemical, I would presume it would kill other species besides mallards. The ducks have been dying off since last week in one specific region, so it must be something else besides a simple and easily recognizable bacterial infection too.



[edit on 14-12-2006 by Regenmacher]

Good catch regenmacher.

...I posted this in your other thread, but here it is again.



One of the reports said, "the lung tissue of the ducks to be full of white and yellowish bacterial abscesses. They also found hemorrhaging around the heart."

...This is fairly classic pathology for bird flu, possibly complicated by a super-imposed infection.

Also - seems to me I recall that Mallards are known bird flu carriers, but do not normally get sick. ...So is this a new strain?

...Will check back in my files, see what I can find.


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I just looked at a map and Idaho borders on BC.

Were these ducks migrating South from Canada?... or maybe they've been there for a while already? Anybody know about migratory routes and seasonal behaviours?

Could the "source" be in Canada? I think I remember reading some stuff from soficrow about a suspected bird flu outbreak in western Canada this summer that was covered up. I'll see if I can find it.


If it's not bird flu, and such high numbers in a single day play against that IMO, I would guess some kind of industrial/chemical pollution scenario or maybe those mysterious chemtrails...

Homeland Security is involved? Did they take over the Centers for Disease Control or something?

With DHS involved, the story takes on several possible conspiracy twists IMO.
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Found the thread: Coincidence or Coverup? Pandemic Drill Coincides with Virulent Virus Outbreak Warning - it was in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Not an outbreak but an "official warning".
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[edit on 12/14/2006 by Gools]

Found the stuff on Mallards.

Originally posted on 5-11-2006 at 10:01 AM (post id: 2598073)

FYI - H5N1 is bouncing back and forth between poultry and wild birds - which increases the likelihood of mutation and vaccine resistance - and mallard ducks are the "champion" vectors.

Much about the disease remains poorly understood, but the present situation is serious and "the risk that a pandemic virus might emerge is not likely to diminish in the near future".

"In terms of geographical spread of the virus, mallard ducks are now regarded as the 'champion' vectors; mute swans are highly susceptible birds that are thought to serve as sentinels, but probably not as vectors of virus transmission," it said in the report, posted on its website www.who.int.

...Recent studies had shown that the virus is now moving both ways in "relay transmission", from poultry to migratory birds and back again...

IMO - this looks like a new strain of bird flu, likely with a super-imposed infection.

Think Beyond Bird Flu: The Perfect Microbial Storm. Don't mean to self-promote, but based on limited and obviously censored information, this outbreak looks fairly definitive.

Gools - in this light, point of origin becomes fairly irrelevant. We're going to see new strains pop up with regularity, in different places, then come together in the "Perfect Microbial Storm."

...Not that it will make much difference, but I am curious what microbe might have hybridized with the flu in this case...


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If I had any doubts that a pandemic was imminent - those doubts have been removed by the sudden proliferation of "terrorists threaten attacks" threads here.

This administration routinely pulls the terrorist threat card for cover-ups, distraction and deflection.

Expect more.

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Mallards are bird flu vectors - so given the fatalities, I think we might be seeing a new microbial hybrid.

Anyone else?

I get the impression these birds were "struck down in mid-flight", so to speak.

3400 in just a couple of days? Where they all part of the same flock? I didn't know bird flu spread or acted so quickly in neighbouring populations. Such a cluster outbreak implies short transmission and incubation times.

So perhaps your right Sofi, a new strain. But if the terrorist/government control card is played, more sinister theories come to mind. I wonder which is more likely?
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We did have a couple radiation storms and X-class flares the last few days, and geomagnetic storms can mess up migratory birds sense of direction, but I've never heard of solar flares zapping birds out of the sky and striking only one species. Still, it's an odd synchronicity.


Be On the Look-Out for Dead Ducks & Geese

Canadian hotline tracks dead birds
To report any dead birds, call 1-866-673-4781.

DHS... hmmm, is everything going to fall under that umbrella now???

what if it was some sort of EMF device being tested by us or even worse one being used against us???

yeah, I know but I rather think of crazy conspiracy theories than a rather realistic and frightnening possibility of a pandemic.

Originally posted by Gools
I get the impression these birds were "struck down in mid-flight", so to speak.

3400 in just a couple of days? Where they all part of the same flock? I didn't know bird flu spread or acted so quickly in neighbouring populations. Such a cluster outbreak implies short transmission and incubation times. So perhaps your right Sofi, a new strain.

Yep - short transmission and incubation times - AND a new hybridized strain.

But if the terrorist/government control card is played, more sinister theories come to mind. I wonder which is more likely?

.

A pandemic is recognized as inevitable - the focus is on 'natural' dynamics, but artificial organisms may play a role. Either way, prevention steps were NOT taken when they could have been.

This administration did not take preventive measures, and clearly intended to allow the pathogens to evolve - I stated long ago that the plan all along was to let it happen, then blame the terrorists.

And it looks like that's exactly what they're positioning to do.

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This is a real tragedy. And it does sound bacterial to me too.

Originally posted by Gools

If it's not bird flu, and such high numbers in a single day play against that IMO, I would guess some kind of industrial/chemical pollution scenario or maybe those mysterious chemtrails...

Homeland Security is involved? Did they take over the Centers for Disease Control or something?

With DHS involved, the story takes on several possible conspiracy twists IMO.

Industrial/chemical pollutants would be detectable in liver and kidney tests. I'm sure they autopsied those too.

"struck down in mid-flight"

The whole flock of them flew into a contrail/chemtrail and ripped up their lungs on jet wash?


Oh Sofi, how true...

This administration routinely pulls the terrorist threat card for cover-ups, distraction and deflection.

And DHS has their fingers in every bureau there is these days, it seems. But you really can't put anything past terrorists either, since 9/11. The more audacious and underhanded, the more points for them.

dang, I live in Idaho (about 28 miles outside boise) and I don't really pay attention tot he news that much. I'll have to look into this a bit more, we're barely getting cases of West Nile this year, definitely don't need bird flu to.

If people involved in the cleaning of ducks gets sick or dies...man its time to run....

Lets keep an eye on this one...

Poor ducks

Could these guys have picked up a strain of Trichomonas gallinae, at another watering hole, and have all succumbed days later in Idaho?

The symptoms I've read are somewhat similar.


From Michigan Dept of Natural Resources

Pathology of Trichomonas gallinae infection

The pathology associated with trichomoniasis in doves and pigeons usually involves young birds and consists of the formation of caseous necrotic masses in the upper digestive tract and occasionally in the viscera. The first (acute) lesions appear in the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, and crop and consist of inflammation and development of creamy-white, wet, and sticky exudate on the mucosal surface (lining). The lesions progress to small, well-defined raised yellow-white ulcers. As the disease progresses further (chronic), the mucosal lesions become yellow in color, larger in size, hard, caseous coalesced masses that may invade the sinuses of the skull, extend externally to the beak and eyes, penetrate through the base of the skull into the brain and penetrate the viscera causing necrotic areas in the liver, spleen, pancreas, heart, lungs and air sacs.

They can't even get the numbers right. So why is it that 1000's of mallard ducks are the only ones affected by eating moldy grain? Those ducks must have Kalishnikovs and are guarding the grain perimeter from all other animals. Moldy grain is a pretty common occurance, but the state wildlife supervisor has never seen anything like this in 20 years. Aspergillus grows in warm and moist environments and it's been snowing in Idaho. I smell a real quack of a story unfolding.

In Michigan, aspergillosis has been identified as a mortality factor in the mallard, canvasback, redhead, wood duck, common merganser, black duck, teal, Canada goose, mute swan, tundra swan, whistling swan, ring-billed gull, herring gull, Sichuan pheasant, ring-necked pheasant, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, raven, evening grosbeak, rose-breasted grosbeak, eastern bluebird, American robin, common grackle, peregrine falcon, red-tailed hawk, bald eagle, purple martin, snowy owl, great horned owl, black duck and common loon. It has also been found, but is a minor mortality factor in white-tailed deer. michigan.gov

Aspergillosis info

[edit on 14-12-2006 by Regenmacher]

here's what I found locally on the duck deaths in BC.

Dead Ducks in Chilliwack BC

Avian Cholera is suspect in these deaths in Northern Canada.

Dead Ducks in Northern Canada

H5 Proven by CFAI in Chilliwack Duck deaths

Although they say that the deaths were not attributed to the virus. 24% (I think I read that right) were infected with H5.

There are a lot more going back to the summer months as well.

Not just Mallards.

Will follow this thread and the stories I can find locally.

Coincidence? Idaho was also the worst hit state for West Nile virus with 440 cases out of 581 since August. CDC: 2006 West Nile Virus Activity in the United States



Idaho, a Biowarfare Playground?



CDC: Coordinated Response to Reports of Possible Anthrax Contamination, Idaho, 2001

Makes me wonder if DHS was feeding those ducks...

[edit on 14-12-2006 by Regenmacher]

It could be linked to an outbreak of Aspergillosis in British Columbia last month

Death of 1,000 mallards in Idaho raises health concerns
Last Updated: Thursday, December 14, 2006 | 12:59 PM ET
CBC News

The death of more than 1,000 mallard ducks along a southern Idaho creek bed has puzzled wildlife agencies in the United States.

Investigators from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are testing tissue samples, hoping to rule out an avian flu outbreak.

Migratory mallards from Canada and their local cousins began dying last week around Land Springs Creek, about 300 kilometres southeast of Boise.

While other birds such as geese, crows and eagles in the area have been unaffected, reports said the ducks were still perishing Wednesday, staggering and struggling to breathe before collapsing.

In October, 243 mallard ducks died in a similar manner in Chilliwack, B.C.

Investigators at the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture's animal health centre found those ducks died of pulmonary aspergillosis, a condition caused when fungal spores are inhaled. The ducks may have contracted the fungal infection while feeding in a cornfield.

Aspergillus is a mold - which grows in moist, warm conditions.

The Mallards in question flew down through Alberta, NOT British Columbia. And Alberta was in a cold spell.

Most important, Mallards are the 'champion vectors' for bird flu. The real danger, and totally anticipated dynamic, is that the flu will hybridize with other microbes to create the perfect microbial storm.

Whatever is determined to be the 'final cause of death' for these Mallards, even if it was a mold - the ducks probably carried bird flu - and likely incubated an all-new flu hybrid. Which is not good news.

We should be most concerned about the birds that survived.

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