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Kaua‘i Avian Botulism Detection Trials Data

Metadata Updated: January 12, 2026

Hawai‘i’s endangered waterbirds have experienced epizootics caused by ingestion of prey that accumulated a botulinum neurotoxin produced by the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum (avian botulism; Type C). Waterbird carcasses, necrophagous flies, and their larvae initiate and spread avian botulism, a food-borne paralytic disease lethal to waterbirds. Each new carcass has potential to develop toxin-accumulating necrophagous vectors amplifying outbreaks and killing hundreds of endangered birds. Early carcass removal is an effective mitigation strategy for preventing avian intoxication, toxin concentration in necrophagous and secondary food webs, and reducing the magnitude of epizootics. However, rapid detection of carcasses can be problematic and labor intensive. Therefore, we tested a new method using scent detection canines for avian botulism surveillance on the island of Kaua‘i. During operational surveillance and a randomized double-blind field trial, trained detector canines with experienced field handlers improved carcass detection probability, especially in dense vegetation. Detector canines could be combined with conventional surveillance to optimize search strategies for carcass removal and are a useful tool to reduce risks of the initiation and propagation of avian botulism. This dataset is one of the three datasets that make up this data release. This table contains GPS track data and environmental parameters from the double-blind detection trials that were intended to compare human searches with canine-assisted searches.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date January 12, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 12, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 12, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 12, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_60246c3ad34eb120311388d6
Data Last Modified 2021-02-11T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id ecec5589-3287-4362-b75d-c533572cc87b
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -159.58500, 22.14700, -159.43500, 22.23400
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 4bb21b945bf14886418256e78f7dc1d450bcac700dcac63d564da059abd661b6
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -159.58500, 22.14700, -159.58500, 22.23400, -159.43500, 22.23400, -159.43500, 22.14700, -159.58500, 22.14700}

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