The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota is adding to the understanding of avian influenza, or bird flu, in the Pacific Northwest. The center recently advised an extended cessation from waterfowl hunting by falconers through the end of the hunting season, which comes to a close mid-January.
Just last week, a highly contagious bird flu virus was confirmed in Winston, Oregon. The virus, H5N8, poses no threat to human health and is not yet widespread. The virus, however, does pose a threat to poultry, waterfowl and other avian species. Therefore, hunters who use falcons or other birds of prey to pursue and take ducks from the wild should avoid wild ducks for falcon consumption for the time being.
Patrick Redig, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor and co-founder of The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine, explained how this strain of avian influenza first arrived in the United States and what it means for domesticated birds:
Much of the time viruses that arrive go unnoticed, but this year a more pathogenic strain of the flu virus is circulating in waterfowl. In December, a falconer hunting waterfowl with his falcon fed duck to his falcons. The ducks carried the flu virus, and as result several falcons became ill and died.
The scientific community in North America had never witnessed influenza transferring from duck to falcons in this manner before – through consumption. Now we know that pathogenic transmission of the influenza virus from wild birds to domestic species – including food birds – is happening. While this particular event was most likely a random one, we’ll be on the lookout early next year for the possibility of a similar outbreak with biosecurity top-of-mind.
Biosecurity can be challenging in situations where wild birds might come into contact with domesticated birds as they fly toward wintering grounds. While the convention is to think that birds fly from Canada to Mexico along the Pacific Flyway, it’s not uncommon for several species of waterfowl originating in Asia to fly “sideways” across the globe and arrive here in North America in the wintertime. The pattern can transfer avian flu virus lineages from the Asian continent to the North American continent.
The resulting illnesses can not only prove devastating to the falconers and their falcons that encounter it, but also to domesticated poultry. Areas within the Pacific Flyway are known for poultry production, and a few countries have already embargoed some poultry trade from affected regions this year.
Spring is when conditions change and the virus is likely to die down. Until then, The Raptor Center is contributing to ongoing updates to wildlife rehabilitators and falconers through the North American Falconers Association, National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association, U.S. Geological Survey and United States Department of Agriculture.
Bird migrations are over for the year, and what we have is here for the season. For now, that means a recommendation to curtail further hunting of waterfowl and maintaining surveillance over the small number of potentially exposed birds.
Photo: U.S. Embassy Canada/CC 2.0/ flic.kr/p/7RC9JF
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