Necrotizing enteritis as a cause of mortality in Laysan albatross, Diomedea immutabilis, chicks on Midway Atoll, Hawaii

Thierry M. Work; M. R. Smith; R. Duncan

doi:10.2307/1592569

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Necrotizing enteritis as a cause of mortality in Laysan albatross, Diomedea immutabilis, chicks on Midway Atoll, Hawaii

Thierry M. Work·M. R. Smith·R. Duncan

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Abstract

A necropsy survey of Laysan albatross, Diomedea immutabilis , chicks on Midway Atoll in June 1993, 1994, and 1995 revealed 54% (21/39), 67% (49/71), and 93% (15/16), respectively, to have enteritis as the most severe pathologic finding. The lesion was limited to the ileum, ceca, and large intestine. We were unable to attribute a single infectious etiology to this lesion. Many birds with enteritis also exhibited renal lesions similar to those encountered in chickens experimentally deprived of water. We propose that enteritis is a significant cause of mortality in Laysan albatross chicks on Midway and that it may be a sequela to dehydration. It is likely that the pathology of dehydration in Laysan albatross differs from that in chickens largely because of diet.

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Source-reported bounding extent: 28.18915145242851° to 28.281027341266608° latitude; -177.4268817901611° to -177.3105812072754° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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Thierry M. Work, M. R. Smith, R. Duncan. 1998. Necrotizing enteritis as a cause of mortality in Laysan albatross, Diomedea immutabilis, chicks on Midway Atoll, Hawaii. https://doi.org/10.2307/1592569

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