Why is it difficult for scientists to positively determine that birds have died from Type E botulism?
Both Type C and Type E botulism, as well as a few other types of poisoning, can produce similar symptoms in affected wildlife. Definitive diagnosis of Type E botulism requires that the Type E botulinum toxin be found in the blood of a live, sick bird. Although finding the toxin in a recently dead bird may be evidence that the bird died of botulism, it is also possible that the toxin detected was produced after death, during putrefaction, and may not have been the cause of the bird’s death.
