Birds in Great Salt Lake Felled by Cholera by the Thousands

Here.

Excerpt:

...According to the United States Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center, they died from avian cholera.

The disease is not new to the West, but the recent outbreak was especially potent, said Tom Aldrich, an expert at the Utah division of wildlife resources. It flourishes in cold weather — last November was the coldest on record, Mr. Aldrich said — and rapidly spreads when there are concentrated populations of birds with diminished food resources.