ST. LOUIS — Crows that were found dead in downtown St. Louis last month died of a limited outbreak of corvid orthoreovirus, the Missouri Department of Conservation said.
In February, city park workers were finding dozens of dead crows per day near the Thomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse in downtown St. Louis. The workers didn't see any obvious signs of trauma, so the conservation department sent five of the birds to an outside lab for a death investigation.
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On Tuesday, MDC spokesman Dan Zarlenga said the lab results showed the birds died of corvid orthoreovirus. He said the infection often causes “winter mortality” when crows gather in large numbers in overcrowded winter roosts.
Zarlenga said the infection is passed to other birds through "fecal-oral" transmission and causes severe damage to internal organs and rapid death. The infection does not pose a threat to humans or other mammals.
"As of now, indications point to the incident being a limited outbreak among this particular group of birds, and not a widespread threat to local bird populations," Zarlenga said.
The exams were performed by Southwestern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia, Athens. They included thorough necropsies and pathogen screening.
For more information about corvid orthoreovirus and other avian reoviruses, click here.
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