Jim LaCour, DVM, shares concerns about salmonella bacterial infection that causes sporadic mortality in some wild birds. He shares how to clean and sanitize bird feeders and bird baths to help prevent birds from catching deadly salmonella. Plus, he notes it’s important to carefully dispose of deceased birds.
Many of the <salmonella> deaths have been associated with bird feeders or birdbaths ” – Jim LaCour, DVM, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Source: The Advocate (via SmartBrief), April 9, 2021. Link.
Also see: Salmonella outbreak across U.S. linked to songbirds, feeders, Fox 40 via Nexstar Media Wire, April 4, 2021. Link. The CDC is investigating the Salmonella sp. outbreak in California, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.
INSIGHTS: Areas under and around bird feeding stations are littered with dropped seeds and hulls. Squirrels, opossums, raccoons and cats and dogs are drawn to these areas where droppings mix with the dropped bird seed increase the risk for bacterial transfer.