Published Date: 2002-10-14 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH> Vulture die-off - India, Pakistan, Nepal (02)
Archive Number: 20021014.5552
VULTURE DIE-OFF - INDIA, PAKISTAN, NEPAL (02)
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Date: Sun 13 Oct 2002 7:32 PM
From: Martin Hugh-Jones <mehj@mail.vetmed.lsu.edu>
Re: the statement in the previous post:
>...with dead cattle lying around longer there is an increased risk of
anthrax.<
There are 2 aspects to consider:
[1] India depends on vultures for carcass and corpse removal. They have
been timed in Africa on game carcasses and it takes them about 45 minutes
to remove all the soft parts. Hyenas do the rest. For anthrax the risk
comes when the birds fly off to bathe in the nearest pond or cattle trough.
Any spores on their plumage and legs will get washed off and can present a
risk to drinking ruminants. Vultures are very efficient -- unfortunately
foxes, crows, etc. are not, and their feeding does result in significant
environmental contamination with _B. anthracis_ spores.
[2] Vultures are aggressive scavengers, not predators. Their removal from
India will have left a scavenger vacuum and an abundance of food for other
species. Whether African and Eurasian vultures will continue to have
seasonal migrations in the face of the Indian subcontinent's largesse is
anybody's guess -- or even whether they are equally susceptible to the
Indian pathogen. Since some Indian vulture species have survived, one can
hope that they are resistant and that the Indian population will bounce
back eventually.
The impact in Africa if this pathogen gets there will be horrific, until
the vulture populations can rebound. It will be interesting to see if
Africa sees an increase in rabies, as India has, with the surge in various
canine populations thanks to the extra food. It will certainly have an
impact on the mammalian species that scavenge.
--
Martin Hugh-Jones
Dept. of Pathobiological Sciences,
School of Veterinary Medicine,
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-8404, USA
<mehj@mail.vetmed.lsu.edu>
See Also
Vulture die-off - India, Pakistan, Nepal: RFI 20021010.55142001
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Vulture die-off - India (04) 20010210.0273
2000
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Vulture die-off - India 20000530.0867
Vulture die-off - India (02) 20000920.1619
Vulture die-off - India (03) 20000922.1637
...................................jw/pg/mpp
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