Institut für Terrestrische und Aquatische Wildtierforschung, Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover, Werftstr, 6, Buesum, 25761, Germany.
Acta Vet Scand. 2012 Jul 19;54(1):43. doi: 10.1186/1751-0147-54-43.
Systematic pathological investigations to assess the health status of seabirds and coastal birds in Germany were performed. The investigation was conducted to obtain data on possible causes of decline in seabird and coastal bird populations.
48 individuals of 11 different species of seabirds and coastal birds were collected by the stranding network along the entire German North Sea coast from 1997 to 2008, including mainly waders such as Eurasian oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) and red knots (Calidris canutus) as well as seabirds such as northern fulmars (Fulmaris glacialis) and common scoters (Melanitta nigra).For most birds (n = 31) found dead along the shore no obvious cause of death was evident, while 17 individuals were killed by collisions with lighthouses.
Overall, the nutritional status of the investigated birds was very poor, and the body mass in most cases was significantly lower compared to masses of living birds caught during the same periods of the year. This is partly linked to chronic parasitic or bacterial infections in different organs or to septicaemia. In some cases infections with zoonotic tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium spp. were found. Avian influenza was not found in any of the collected birds.
The presented data contribute to the evaluation of the health status of birds in the German North Sea. Moreover, they present an important tool for the assessment of potential pathogens with an impact on the health status of seabirds and coastal birds.
系统的病理学调查评估了德国海鸟和沿海鸟类的健康状况。该调查旨在获取有关海鸟和沿海鸟类数量下降的可能原因的数据。
1997 年至 2008 年，通过搁浅网络在德国北海沿岸收集了 11 种不同种类的海鸟和沿海鸟类的 48 只个体，其中主要包括欧亚蛎鹬（Haematopus ostralegus）和红腹滨鹬（Calidris canutus）等涉禽以及北方管鼻鹱（Fulmaris glacialis）和普通潜鸭（Melanitta nigra）等海鸟。对于在岸边发现的大多数死亡鸟类（n=31），没有明显的死因，而 17 只鸟类是被灯塔撞死的。
总体而言，调查鸟类的营养状况非常差，大多数情况下的体重明显低于同年同期捕获的活体鸟类的体重。这部分与不同器官的慢性寄生虫或细菌感染或败血症有关。在某些情况下，还发现了由分枝杆菌属引起的人畜共患结核感染。在收集的鸟类中未发现禽流感。
所提供的数据有助于评估德国北海海鸟的健康状况。此外，它们还为评估对海鸟和沿海鸟类健康状况有影响的潜在病原体提供了重要工具。
