PATIENT:  Bald Eagle, #11-2481

LOCATION OF RESCUE:  King George County, Virginia

CAUSE OF ADMISSION:  Suspect organophosphate toxicity

 ADMISSION DATE: October 4, 2011

OUTCOME: Euthanized October 12, 2011

An adult Bald Eagle was found at the King George County landfill on October 4.  The eagle was rescued and taken to a permitted rehabilitator, who quickly called the Wildlife Center and arranged transport for the same day.

Dr. Dave McRuer examined the Bald Eagle upon admission.  The eagle was standing, though it appeared to be very sluggish in its movements and had difficulty balancing.  The bird also seemed unable to see very well, or at least was having difficulty focusing on external stimuli.  Dr. Dave performed a physical exam and found the bird to be in good body condition; there were no signs of fractures.  An in-depth ophthalmic examination didn’t reveal any obvious eye injuries — which suggested that the eagle was either having central vision problems or sluggish reflexes.

Based on the Bald Eagle’s clinical signs, Dr. Dave suspected that the eagle had been exposed to organophosphates — perhaps ingested something contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides.  A blood sample was taken and sent to an outside diagnostic laboratory to test for levels of organophosphates.   Test results should be available to the veterinary team by October 7.

In the meantime, Dr. Dave began a course of atropine — a medication for organophosphate poisoning.  By the end of the day [October 4], the Bald Eagle was showing some signs of improvement.  Another dose of atropine was given to the bird at the end of the day, along with subcutaneous fluids.

On the morning of October 5, the Bald Eagle appeared to be brighter and was eating and attempting to bite the staff as they got the bird out for morning treatments.  The eagle did appear to be somewhat visual, though still was having difficulty focusing.  Dr. Dave decided to continue with additional atropine and a catheter was placed in the eagle’s leg to deliver the medication intravenously.

October 12 update

Over the course of the past week, the King George County Bald Eagle’s condition has deteriorated.  Test results came back negative for exposure to organophosphates, which is not what the veterinary staff was expecting.  On Tuesday, October 11, the Bald Eagle continued to go downhill and was not standing in its crate.  On October 12, the eagle began having tremors.

At this point, the veterinary team is unsure what is causing such dramatic symptoms in the eagle.  Some sort of poisoning is still on the list, though it could also be a virus or some other disease.  It’s extremely difficult to know what specific tests to run.  An additional lead test was performed on October 12, and it did show a very slight elevation in lead levels – though still not at a level that would typically warrant treatment.  Just to be on the safe side, and  to be able to offer some sort of treatment, Dr. Miranda started the eagle on chelation therapy.

The staff will continue to closely monitor the eagle and will hope for improvements.

October 13 update

When Dr. Miranda checked on Bald Eagle #11-2393 yesterday evening, she found that the eagle’s conditioned had worsened from earlier in the day.  The eagle was having seizures and continued tremoring.  Dr. Miranda decided the best thing to do for the eagle in this situation was to humanely euthanize it.  The eagle’s body will be sent to an outside laboratory for a full and detailed necropsy in hopes that the veterinary team may learn something from this case.

November 15 update

Results from Bald Eagle #11-2481’s necropsy came back during the week of November 7.  This Bald Eagle was suffering from a West Nile Virus infection.

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