Avian flu, more commonly referred to as bird flu, is a highly contagious virus that has killed off thousands of wild birds in Idaho, and millions nationally. While reporting dead or ill birds is of high importance, Brian Pearson, the regional communications manager for Idaho Fish and Game, feels confident that Idaho’s ecosystem will rebalance itself.
“You’re talking about a population of snow geese that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of a million animals. While it’s certainly unfortunate to see a few 1000 juvenile snow geese perish due to influenza, it’s not going to have population-level impacts on the species,” Pearson said.
“Avian influenza is relatively common, and given the circumstances that we’re seeing here, is that they are primarily juvenile geese. What our wildlife health lab suspects is that these geese are arriving here and somewhere on their migration, perhaps even here in the Treasure Valley, they’re encountering avian influenza on the landscape when they start interacting with local ducks and geese,” Pearson said.
While adult birds may have built up immunity to avian flu, younger birds are more susceptible.
“When we see these juveniles die, it’s because they don’t have that resistance to whatever strain of avian influenza this is,” Pearson said.
Stacey Dauwalter, wildlife health program coordinator and forensic lab manager for Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) explained via email that while the current mortality rate for birds is larger than last year, it does not exceed the number of deceased birds the department witnessed in Spring 2022.
“This is likely because the current outbreak is mainly affecting migrating snow geese. At this time, we have not received any reports of large numbers of resident and migrating wild ducks and or other species of wild geese dying,” Dauwalter said. “So, while IDFG staff have removed several thousand carcasses from lakes, reservoirs and WMAs (Wildlife Management Areas), currently, this event is smaller in geographical area, with fewer species and fewer overall numbers of deceased birds.”
Dauwalter broke down how Avian flu spreads and how to reduce it.
“Avian influenza can spread quickly through direct contact between birds. It can also spread to birds through contaminated clothes, shoes and hands. The best way to reduce spreading the virus is to not handle or harvest birds that are sick or found dead,” Dauwalter said.
For owners of backyard birds or poultry, Dauwalter advises contacting the Idaho Department of Agriculture to document deceased or sick birds.
Dauwalter said “young migrating waterfowl” are the most susceptible to the disease but that if new strains come to fruition, other avian species could be impacted as well.
“IDFG staff work with federal and state partners to help monitor through surveillance efforts. As avian influenza is a reportable disease, we communicate on any new outbreaks and the strain types involved,” Dauwalter said. “With recent reports of new strain types, infections in dairy cows, pigs and humans, all agencies are continuing to report and share information to stay up to date on risks, best practices to manage outbreaks and human safety.”
Stephanie Hudon, clinical program director for Boise State Public Health, explained via email, some of the misconceptions associated with avian influenza.
“Some common misconceptions are that H5N1 (avian flu) only occurs in birds, it’s actually been found in other animals including cats and dogs. Another misconception is that you can catch the virus from eating eggs. Properly cooked poultry and eggs are safe to eat since cooking destroys the H5N1 virus,” Hudon said. “Also, person-to-person transmission is very rare with only a couple cases occurring in very close contact”
Hudon said that avian influenza is very similar to influenza viruses, both in composition and in symptoms.
Hudon noted that The Genetics and Infectious Disease Lab currently offers a combined COVID/Flu A&B test, where if the patient tests positive for Flu A, their results will be sent to the Idaho Bureau of Labs to test for avian influenza.
