The Department of Natural Resources says nearly a thousand cormorants and ring-billed gulls have been found dead of Newcastle Disease on the shores of Marsh Lake near Appleton in western Minnesota.

Newcastle is a viral disease that most often infects cormorants but has also been found in gulls and pelicans. Signs of infection include droopy heads and twisted necks, lack of coordination, inability to fly or dive and complete or partial paralysis. It most commonly affects juvenile birds.