The H5N2 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), has killed more than 4 million turkeys and chickens in Minnesota, and affected 70 different farms throughout the state. The strain has been circulating in the Mississippi flyway since early March.
For the first time, researchers detected H5N2 in a wild bird. A Cooper’s hawk in Yellow Medicine County crashed into a window above the deck of a homeowner, Patrick Redig, D.V.M., Ph.D., College of Veterinary Medicine professor and co-founder of the Raptor Center, told the Star Tribune. Later, tests confirmed that the Cooper’s hawk was also positive for H5N2.
“It raises the question of who else is carrying the virus?” Julia Ponder, D.V.M., executive director of the Raptor Center, said on MPR. “We think [Raptors] are more likely to be susceptible. But the animals that spread disease well are not the animals dying from the disease.”
Researchers believe waterfowl are the carriers of H5N2, but the infection has yet to be identified in any.
“We are really in research mode. There’s a whole bunch of stuff we don’t know,” Carol Cardona, Ph.D., D.V.M., professor in avian health in the College of Veterinary Medicine, told the Star Tribune.
Ponder said researchers were not surprised to find HPAI in a raptor, but expected it to show up in raptors that eat waterfowl, like the bald eagle or peregrine falcon.
The Raptor Center has been testing raptors since January, when the virus was detected in the Pacific Flyway. Until now, they had not confirmed any cases in wild birds.
“We definitely have increased our awareness. We are very much aware of our captive birds as well as other captive managed wildlife and wild birds, because we need to protect them,” Ponder said.
University of Minnesota researchers will continue to study the virus patterns, and explore how bird flu is spreading among commercial flocks. Bird flu usually tapers off in warmer months, but researchers expect the virus could linger for years.
See how University of Minnesota researchers have been responding to Minnesota HPAI since its arrival back in March, read the full Star Tribune article, and hear Julia Ponder’s full MPR interview.
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