Botulism outbreaks in Lake Michigan are related to lake water level and surface water temperature
Ann Arbor, MI — Type E botulism outbreaks have resulted in the death of over 80,000 wild birds in the Great Lakes since 2000 and may be the most significant cause of wild bird mortality worldwide. Birds die when they eat food containing botulism toxin, which is the most toxic substance known, but the factors that promote these outbreaks are not well understood.
A team of researchers from the U. S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service recently looked for relationships between environmental factors and the incidence of type E avian botulism outbreaks in Lake Michigan from 1963 to 2008. Avian botulism outbreaks occurred most frequently in years with low mean annual water levels and higher water temperatures. Because climate change scenarios for the Great Lakes predict lower water levels and warmer water temperatures to occur in the future, the frequency and magnitude of type E botulism outbreaks in the Great Lakes might be expected to increase in future years.
Original Publication Information
Results of this study, "Links between type E botulism outbreaks, lake levels, and surface water temperatures in Lake Michigan, 1963-2008," are reported by Brenda Lafrancois, Stephen Riley, David Blehert, and Anne Ballman in the latest issue (Volume 37, No. 1, pp. 86-91) of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by Elsevier, 2011.
Contacts
For more information about the study, contact Stephen Riley, USGS Great Lakes Science Center, 1451 Green Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103; sriley@usgs.gov; (734) 214-7279.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; jglr@ec.gc.ca; (306) 975-5310.
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