2,000 Pelicans Die at Salton Sea; Avian Botulism Suspected

A suspected outbreak of avian botulism has killed 2,000 pelicans, authorities said Friday.

White pelicans and endangered brown pelicans began dying Thursday, said David Klinger of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland, Ore.

“I would say we’re very concerned. We’re not alarmed at this point,” he said. “No fears have been voiced that this will spread.

“There is no risk to human health,” Klinger said.

The bacterial illness cannot infect humans and is common among migrating birds in the West, although the size of the Salton Sea outbreak is unusual, Klinger said.

It was the latest die-off at the 30-by-10-mile Salton Sea, the state’s largest lake, which straddles Imperial and Riverside counties about 80 miles northeast of San Diego.

About 200,000 migratory birds are believed to have died here since 1989. Experts suspect that fertilizers and selenium in waste water flowing from farms into the lake may have triggered toxic algae blooms, although Klinger said there has been no confirmation of the cause.

Two laboratories will test carcasses to determine if the birds died from botulism or from some other illness such as avian cholera or avian salmonella, Klinger said. The recent heat wave may have played a role in the outbreak, he added.