Thousands of dead birds have been washing up on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. A panic hit the state. The interesting thing was: the dead birds did not perish of the dreaded avian flu.
An Eared Grebe
Avian cholera killed more than 15,000 birds who lived near or on the lake last fall. Most of the dead birds were Eared Grebes. The bacteria spread ramantly through the bird population killing many. The salt water the lake preserved the birds so they did not decay, even though they all have been dead for months at this point and have only now begun to wash up on shore. The bacteria do not affect other people or animals, and the birds have been dead long enough that they no longer are carriers or the pathogen.
Fortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of birds that migrate over the area, and the 15,000 or so deaths will not hurt the general population of grebes or humans for that matter.
