Migrating flocks of wild birds can carry avian influenza, also known as the bird flu. That’s why Kansas officials are warning residents to avoid sick birds and report or dispose of dead ones.
Tom Bidroski is a migratory game bird specialist with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. He said flocks of wild birds can come from as far as the Arctic and travel to the Gulf of Mexico.
Bidrowski said during this lengthy migration, birds mingle with large flocks from different continents.
“So that kind of sets the stage for outbreaks or disease remission to occur,” he said. “Infected birds spread the virus either through saliva, nasal or tracheal secretions or even feces. And the virus can be carried in things: in water, manure, on equipment.”
According to Bidrowski, there are up to 150 strains of avian influenza. He said domestic poultry are at the highest risk of contracting the deadly virus.
Earlier this year, there were even outbreaks of avian influenza in commercial cattle in states including Kansas, Colorado and Texas. A spokesperson from the Kansas Department of Agriculture said that was a different strain of the virus than what is being identified in poultry cases.
In Kansas, there have not been any bird flu outbreaks among commercial flocks of poultry since spring. But the Kansas Department of Agriculture said there have been two confirmed cases of the virus in small backyard flocks.
The department also said the virus was detected in wild birds across the state. In Missouri, three dead snow geese found in Vernon and Henry counties, near the Kansas border, tested positive for the virus.
Operation Wildlife, an animal rescue and rehabilitation center in Linwood, Kansas, said it has had a high volume of calls about sick wild birds recently.
“We're probably receiving between 10 and 12 calls a day about geese on the ground that are sick or injured because they've had a traumatic fall and broken a wing or something. And they're exhibiting symptoms of avian influenza,” said Diane Johnson, executive director for Operation Wildlife.
Johnson said birds with avian influenza typically “act drunk.”
“Their eyes are swollen. They are uncoordinated,” she said. “Sometimes they have respiratory issues where they're wheezing, frothing at the nose and the mouth.”
Johnson said her organization can’t care for wild birds with the virus because it would put other birds at their facility at risk. She also said her staff would be limited in what they could do to help because the virus is almost always fatal for birds.
“Our quarantine areas are full,” she said.
Johnson said anyone who finds a dead bird should report it to law enforcement or animal control, or throw it away.
“Double-bag them, bury them, burn them, somehow dispose of them,” Johnson said, adding that people should disinfect their clothes afterward.
Bidrowski from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks said people should wear disposable gloves to touch a dead bird. Avoid birds that act sick, and keep pets away from sick birds, he said.
Bidrowski said bird flu rarely spreads to mammals, but it’s not impossible for a pet or person to contract the virus. So far this year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 60 human cases of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu across the country.
A spokesperson from the Kansas Department of Agriculture said the risk to the public is low, and there has not been any indication of person-to-person spread of the bird flu.
Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga reports on health care disparities and access for the Kansas News Service. You can email her at r.shackelford@kcur.org.
Rose Conlon reports on health for KMUW and the Kansas News Service.
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