Hook and Line Injuries in Waterfowl
 

Disease Summary

Alternative Names (Synonyms)

• Fishing Tackle Injuries

Disease Type

Infectious/Non-Infectious Agent associated with the Disease

Infective "Taxa"

Non-infective agents

Physical agents

• Fishing tackle
• Non-specific physical trauma

References

Disease Author

Major References / Reviews

Code and Title List

Other References

Code and Title List

Detailed Clinical and Pathological Characteristics

General

Clinical Characteristics

• Line may be visible around and/or trailing from the bill, body, limb or neck.
• Line may be hanging out of the mouth.
• Localised swelling may be seen in the cervical area.
• May also act as a focus for impaction of food, usually in the oesophagus. (See: Impaction).
• Line caught around the bill or tongue and passing down into the gizzard may cause 'cheese-wire'-type cuts in the oesophagus.
• Respiratory distress, anorexia and weight loss may be seen with oesophageal hooks, also severe infection.
• Line may be deeply embedded in and hidden by granulation tissue.
• Line around limbs may restrict circulation, cut through skin, tendons and even bone, eventually.

(J3.120.w1, B11.34.w2, B37.x.w1, P8.3.w1)

Incubation

Mortality / Morbidity

Pathology

Human Health Considerations

Disease has been reported in either the wild or in captivity in:

• Mute swan Cygnus olor with gizzard impacted by tangled mass of nylon fishing line, in Scotland, UK (J36.44.w1).
• Mute swan Cygnus olor with nylon fishing line twisted around the wings, in Scotland, UK (J36.44.w1).
• Mute swans Cygnus olor with fish hooks embedded in the oesophagus, in Scotland, UK (J36.44.w1).
• Mute swans Cygnus olor in Scotland, UK (J7.50.w1).
• Mute swans Cygnus olor having swallowed fish hooks or become entangled in fishing lines (B9.6.w1).
• Tufted duck Aythya fuligula with nylon fishing line around body and caught in reeds, in UK (V.w5).

Host Species List

• Aythya fuligula - Tufted duck
• Cygnus olor - Mute swan

Disease has been specifically reported in Free-ranging populations of:

• Mute swan Cygnus olor with gizzard impacted by tangled mass of nylon fishing line, in Scotland, UK (J36.44.w1).
• Mute swan Cygnus olor with nylon fishing line twisted around the wings, in Scotland, UK (J36.44.w1).
• Mute swans Cygnus olor with fish hooks embedded in the oesophagus, in Scotland, UK (J36.44.w1).
• Mute swans Cygnus olor in Scotland, UK (J7.50.w1).
• Mute swans Cygnus olor having swallowed fish hooks or become entangled in fishing lines (B9.6.w1).
• Tufted duck Aythya fuligula with nylon fishing line around body and caught in reeds, in UK (V.w5).

Host Species List

• Aythya fuligula - Tufted duck
• Cygnus olor - Mute swan

General Information on Environmental Factors/Events and Seasonality

Regions / Countries where the Infectious Agent or Disease has been recorded

Regions / Countries where the Infectious Agent or Disease has been recorded in Free-ranging populations

General Information on Investigation / Diagnosis

• The tongue, under the bill, the skin of the neck, the limbs and the body should be examined carefully by eye and by palpation.
• Running a finger with slight pressure along the tongue and under the bill along the central soft intra-ramal tissue may assist in finding a nylon wire.
• Endoscopy and radiography may be useful to locate oesophageal hooks.
• Always suspect and check for a hook if line is trailing from the mouth.

(J3.120.w1, P8.3.w1, B11.34.w2)

• History and Documentation - General
• Physical Examination - General
• Necropsy - General
• Appendix A - B36 Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases - Sample specimen history form
• Treatment and Care - General

Similar Diseases (Differential Diagnosis)

Specific Medical Treatment

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General Nursing and Surgical Techniques

• Do not cut the line extruding from the mouth short - it will provide a guide to the hook!
• Single hooks may be removed using long-handles forceps.
• May be possible using a fisherman's "disgorger" or by threading a stiff tube (e.g. bovine uterine catheter) over attached line, allowing manipulation of the hook.
• Visualisation with a flexible endoscope, and inflation of the oesophagus may assist removal.
• N.B. too much pressure, particularly with barbed hooks, may cause damage.
• It may be possible to push a large hook through the skin, cut off the hook and then withdraw the remainder of the hook.
• Surgical removal may be necessary, particularly if the oesophagus is torn and/or infected. Surgical removal of hooks under local or general anaesthetic:
  • General anaesthetic, left lateral recumbency, clamp incision site with artery forceps before incising skin, to decrease bleeding. Suture oesophagus in two layers using an atraumatic needle and swaged-on suture material such as absorbable monofilament (e.g. Monocryl, Ethicon) and ensuring an inverting pattern is used on the outer layer. Skin should be left unsutured or partially sutured, to allow drainage. Manage as an open wound.
• N.B. hooks left in the oesophagus may become walled off by fibrosis and gradually rust.
• Oesophageal line removal:
• May be possible by gentle traction.
• N.B. may be anchored by accumulated food (in which case traction may allow the whole may to be removed), or by a hook (in which case excessive traction may tear the tissue in which the hook is embedded).
• Hooks/line reaching the gizzard usually become ground down and no longer a problem (P8.3.w1).

LINE AROUND LIMB OR BODY:

• These must be removed carefully; limb may bleed profusely as line is removed.
• Check and recheck that all loops of line, including those embedded in tissue, have been removed.
• Amputation of the limb may be required with severe injuries; ducks may manage well with an amputated or dysfunctional limb but larger, heavier birds are likely to develop pressure necrosis lesions over the keel.
• Scar tissue around limbs may constrict circulation: debride scar tissue, keep tissue moist and supple while healing, using e.g. Intrasite gel (Smith & Nephew Medical Ltd.) or petroleum jelly.
• Contraction of wounds to the propatagium may cause flightlessness.

(B11.34.w2, B37.x.w1, P8.3.w1, V.w5, V.w6).

• Oesophageal Surgery of Birds
• Treatment and Care - General

Preventative Measures

WATERFOWL

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Environmental and Population Control Measures

WATERFOWL

• Environmental and Population Management - General