Brain disease hits eagles

At least 25 bald eagles in the Augusta, Georgia area have been found in recent years to succumb to avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM). The disease causes spongelike brain lesions in birds.

Despite the symptomatic resemblance to mad cow disease and other encephalopathies, an Associated Press reports states “experts” believe AVM is caused by a naturally occurring biotoxin produced by algae.

The disease was also found in Canadian geese in Fayetteville, Georgia. A woman there who had been feeding the geese noticed some who were looking lethargic one day and would be dead the next. The geese tested positive for AVM.