Health risk assessment for the introduction of Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) into Nova Scotia

Health risk assessment for the introduction of Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) into Nova Scotia" (2004). 2 This health risk assessment evaluates potential health risks associated with a proposed introduction of wild turkeys to the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. The preferred source for the turkeys would be the Province of Ontario, but alternative sources include the northeastern United States from Minnesota eastward and Tennessee northward. This report assesses qualitatively the probability that health hazards would be created in Nova Scotia in association with the introduction of wild turkeys and the magnitude of harm that would result, and the probability that the introduced wild turkeys would encounter health hazards in Nova Scotia and the magnitude of the harm that would result. The assessment is based primarily on peer-reviewed scientific literature. Additional sources of information include unpublished reports, opinions of poultry health experts, compiled laboratory findings and anecdotal information solicited from wildlife health personnel in the states and provinces from which the turkeys might originate, and from Nova Scotia. The methods of the assessment used are those recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health (formerly the OIE), Working Group on Wildlife Diseases. One hundred and twenty two potentially hazardous infectious agents were considered; eleven were assessed in full detail: avian pox viruses, three species of Mycoplasma, two species of Salmonella, Bordatella avium, three groups of protozoan blood parasites and the tick Amblyomma americanum. !The overall health risk of introducing wild turkeys into Nova Scotia, where assessable, is LOW, and can be reduced further by application of testing protocols identified in the document. !Health risks associated with the possible introduction of four potential disease-causing agents CAN NOT BE ASSESSED due to lack of essential qualitative information.-Three parasitic protozoa: Leucocytozoon smithi, Haemoproteus meleagridis and Plasmodium sp.-The bacterium Bordatella avium. !Health risk associated with introduction of wild turkeys obtained from Ontario is as low or lower than is the case for birds obtained from the United States. !These conclusions are drawn in association with a range of uncertainties that are presented in the report and must be understood as inherent properties of the conclusions.