Wildlife experts have been testing songbirds this month, trying to determine the cause of the mysterious illness that has killed hundreds of them across Indiana and other states.
Allysin Gillet is an ornithologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. She said not much is known about the illness and the DNR recommends people avoid areas where birds are exhibiting symptoms.
“There are so many things out there that could possibly be causing this so it’s a really difficult, and hence I think mystery is a good term to use for this because we really need to look at all the different angles of this disease.”
Gillet said testing has ruled out West Nile Virus, Avian Flu, salmonella, Chlamydia, Herpes, and pox viruses.
She said a link to Brood X cicadas is being investigated. But the more they learn about the illness, the less likely that appears to be the case.
LISTEN: Mysterious Illness Killing Birds Across The Midwest Spreading
“No direct link has been made between those two," she said. "We’re also seeing that the regions that are seeing more reports are a bit outside the range of that Brood X Cicada.”
Gillet says a big reason people wanted to link the two was the timing of discovering the bird illness as Brood X emerged.
