University of Georgia recently issued the following announcement.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed in three bald eagles in Georgia Thursday. This is the first time the virus has been confirmed in the species in the state.
The University of Georgia’s Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Diseases Study first detected the disease in the dead eagles found in Chatham, Glynn and Liberty counties in March. Based in UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the cooperative provides wildlife disease expertise to state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, including the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed more than 660 cases in wild birds just this year, including 11 cases in Georgia. Nationwide, tens of millions of domestic birds have also died from the disease or been culled after known exposures to keep the virus from decimating commercial flocks. The virus is considered to be a low risk to humans, and to date there have been no human cases reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Following the initial detection, samples were sent to the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Iowa for confirmation, which was received this week.
“We don’t know what the future holds, but worst case scenario: The virus becomes established in our wild bird populations,” said David Stallknecht, director of the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study. “If it is maintained in wild birds, it will continue to threaten wild bird and commercial poultry health. With bird migration it may even spread to Central America and South America.”
Frequently referred to as HPAI or high-path, the virus has been detected in more than 50 countries on multiple continents. It’s previously been found in commercial poultry flocks, backyard chickens and wild waterfowl and has the ability to infect other animals as well.
This year, the virus is hitting birds of prey hard. But only in certain areas.
“Raptors being infected with HPAI is not something that is unique,” Stallknecht said. “But the scale of it is absolutely unique. We have also detected it in numerous raptors in other states, and there is an outbreak going on in Florida right now involving hundreds of black vultures. Mortality due to HPAI has been documented in numerous species of geese, ducks, gulls and pelicans. However, not all infected birds die.”
Some ducks, for example, have no apparent illness when infected. That may be the result of some built-in immunity to HPAI from exposure to less pathogenic flu viruses (i.e., “low path”) that commonly occur in waterfowl.
Eagles and other raptors that eat ducks aren’t typically exposed to these low-pathogenic viruses, which may leave them more vulnerable to HPAI.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up