Avian Influenza has been causing quite a stir recently in the bird community. With nearly a 100% mortality rate in raptors, it is important for us to assess the risk to our birds and develop plans for how to protect them.
The virus that causes Avian Influenza is always circulating through bird communities as a low-pathogenic variety. It usually doesn't make birds sick. But every once in a while, the virus mutates to become much more destructive. It becomes "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza," or HPAI for short.
While HPAI typically does not cause symptoms in water birds like ducks and geese, they can spread it to other birds through saliva, nasal secretions, and feces. That means any bird can pick up the virus by walking through infected feces, eating an infected bird, or even coming into contact with a lone feather that an infected bird preened and coated in saliva. Predators and scavengers, like raptors, crows, and gulls, are the most likely to come into contact with infected waterfowl. These birds tend to get sick and usually die.
Whereas the last HPAI outbreak in 2016 affected mostly commercial poultry flocks, this year's strain is spreading more and more to wild birds. It has become so serious that some wildlife rehabilitators have made the difficult decision to stop accepting high risk species.
When COVID-19 hit our communities in 2020, we quickly had to learn how to manage an easily-transmissible and potentially fatal disease. We began assessing risk and taking steps to mitigate the spread. I'm glad I have that practice because now I need to apply those skills to protecting our birds.
Risk Assessment:
The most likely ways our birds will get the virus are:
An infected wild bird pooping directly into the mew
Eating an infected bird (quail and day old chicks are part of their regular diet)
Human caretakers transporting infected feces/other materials on shoes or clothing into the mews
Now we need to assess how risky each of those are and what we can do to mitigate it. The first two are relatively low risk: wild bird don't often perch above the mews and our quail supplier meets biosecurity standards for the National Poultry Improvement Plan. I can check those off my worry-list for now.
The risk of us carrying the virus into the mews is much more variable. Luckily we don't have waterfowl anywhere near the mews. But we could walk through a wetland or lawn somewhere else and transport contaminated material back to the mews. Or maybe someone with backyard chickens visits the Museum and drops the virus in the hallway where we could pick it up on our shoes.
To mitigate this concern, we have increased our biosecurity. Animal care staff started using separate boots that only are used in the mews and step in a soapy footbath to wash off any solid particles before entering. The equipment is sanitized each night with a disinfectant spray. These extra steps add a little hassle to our day, but the effort is worth protecting our birds from a deadly disease.
For more information on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza:
Wisconsin DNR: News Release
Wisconsin DNR: Reporting Suspected HPAI Birds
The Raptor Center on avian flu outbreak; how the public can help (KARE 11 News Report)
A worrisome new bird flu is spreading in American birds and may be here to stay (NPR News Report)
HPAI is rarely seen in humans. But the Wisconsin Department of Health Services has information on how it may impact human health.
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