14 DAY TRIAL // As I reported at the end of last year, hunter, farmers and fishermen in no less than five counties in Utah have been reporting the deaths of bald eagles across the state.
These majestic birds come here during the winter to hang around the Great Salt Lake, but apparently this year something happened and they began dying out. Researchers believe they may have found out why.
According to Utah wildlife experts, the West Nile virus is the main culprit behind the deaths of more than 25 birds over the past few weeks. The announcement was made by scientists with the state's Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR), whose test results just came in. The virus was proposed as a cause for the death before, but insufficient evidence was found at the time.
What is weird about this infection is that this viral agent does not usually act during the winter, but in the summer time when more of its transmission vectors – mosquitoes – are available to allow it to infect more hosts, LiveScience reports.
Some experts believe the bald eagle got sick after eating small birds called eared grebes, whose populations have also been exhibited a die-off for the past few weeks.