Published Date: 2000-09-20 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Vulture die-off - India (02)
Archive Number: 20000920.1619

VULTURE DIE-OFF - INDIA (02)
I***************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>

See Also

Vulture die-off - India 20000530.0867
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 23:18:55 -0400
From: Marjorie P. Pollack <pollackmp@mindspring.com>
Source: The Times of India News Service, 19 Sep 2000 [edited

"What's preying on vultures? Is it a pandemic which started from Southeast
Asia a decade ago felling birds in India and set to hit Nepal and Pakistan?
Or, is it something else?
As an international meeting on the vulture crisis in India began here on
Monday, the most honest answer was: "We don't know." But whatever is
killing these unpaid safai karamcharis is doing it quite efficiently -
numbers are down by as much as 90 per cent in India, from thousands to
mere hundreds. The worst hit are 2 of the _Gyps_ species, the common
white-backed and long-billed vultures.
One hypothesis is a disease may have originated in Southeast Asia, hitting
India in the 1990s, almost completely wiping out these scavengers from even
some protected areas, mortality combining with breeding failure.
Munir Virani of the Peregrine Fund presents a scary scenario: The
symptoms- birds with heads drooping during the heat, gradually becoming
lethargic and dying within a month - have begun showing in Nepal and
Pakistan. In Nepal's Koshi Tappu wildlife reserve, 16 per cent of the
white-backed vultures exhibited head-drooping symptoms. And they have
disappeared almost completely from the Royal Chitwan National Park.
In Pakistan, there seem to be more head-droopers in sites closer to the
border with Rajasthan, so if an infectious disease factor is responsible,
it has entered Pakistan and may spread west - the _Gyps_ species is found
in West Asia, the southern tip of Africa and Europe. "The consequences
could be unthinkable."
The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has been collaborating with the
research center of Venkateshwar Hatcheries and the National Institute of
Virology to get a grip on what's killing the vultures.
The preliminary findings: Scale of mortality defies easy explanation but
pesticides and poisons in general cannot account for it - nor can rumors
the Air Force has developed the expertise to fell these threats to its
planes!
While there is no direct evidence, there are "symptoms of an infectious
disease, most probably a viral infection." There's a need to look for
something that changed in the environment about 5 years ago; only the
appearance of a new disease factor can explain such an abrupt transition.
Much better data are needed. Tissue samples have to be analyzed on a large
scale, at national and international labs. Yet, getting fresh carcasses
has been a problem. And, picking up vultures, sick or healthy, for
investigation requires all sorts of government permissions. So far,
samples aren't allowed out of the country either. There are just too many
restrictions, says BNHS director A. R. Rahmani.
–-
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[ProMED-mail reported earlier on the die-off of these birds and the
potential health effects. These birds are not normally subject to
diseases, by nature of their scavenger activities. This must be the
meeting mentioned in our earlier post. - Mod.TG
..........................tg/es
*##########################################################*
ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that
are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
information, and of any statements or opinions based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID
and its associated service providers shall not be held
responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any
damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted
or archived material.
************************************************************
Visit ProMED-mail's web site at <http://www.promedmail.org>.
Send all items for posting to: promed@promedmail.org
(NOT to an individual moderator). If you do not give your
full name and affiliation, it may not be posted. Send
commands to subscribe/unsubscribe, get archives, help,
etc. to: majordomo@promedmail.org. For assistance from a
human being send mail to: owner-promed@promedmail.org.
############################################################
############################################################