Moldy grain killed ducks, scientists say

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Moldy grain killed ducks, scientists say

Story Highlights

•2,000 mallards die of apparent food poisoning in Idaho

•Grain may have come from nearby agricultural operation

•Ducks often resort to poor food sources during bad weather

•Fears of avian influenza outbreak in U.S. prove unfounded

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) -- Two thousand mallard ducks in Idaho likely died

after they ate moldy grain and contracted a fatal infection, scientists said

Thursday.

Slota, a wildlife expert with the U.S. Geological Survey's National

Wildlife Health Center, said a fungal infection known as aspergillosis was the

likely killer.

" The results are certainly consistent with that diagnosis, " Slota said.

Dave Parrish, regional supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game,

said further tests would be conducted.

The preliminary finding eased fears that the massive mallard die-off, which

experts say is unprecedented in Idaho, was linked to bird flu.

Birds can contract aspergillosis after feeding on waste grain and silage

pits during bad weather, according to the National Wildlife Health Center.

Large-scale, rapid die-offs among waterfowl have chiefly affected mallards, it

said.

An estimated 2,000 mallards died between Friday and Wednesday near the

agricultural community of Burley, about 150 miles southeast of Boise.

State fish and game officers Wednesday retrieved carcasses from a stream

clogged with dead and dying mallards.

The stream is surrounded by farmland and a cattle feedlot, potential sources

of the moldy grain, officials said.

Concerns over the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu and an extensive national

monitoring network prompted officials to submit samples from Idaho to labs

specializing in detecting avian influenza and drew the U.S. Department of

Homeland Security into the investigation.

A similar aspergillosis outbreak killed 500 mallards in Iowa in 2005, the

wildlife health center said. Moldy grain was the culprit in that case. The

disease is not contagious.

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