Alaska: 2022 Bird flu in wild birds and mammals

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/20...-across-state/

Bird flu continues to spread across the state
By Lauren Maxwell
Published: May. 17, 2022 at 9:39 PM EDT|Updated: 36 minutes ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Since the first case of avian flu was confirmed at the end of April, the state has now confirmed more than a dozen additional cases.

Those cases confirmed by the state include bald eagles in the Aleutians Islands, Canada geese in Fairbanks and Anchorage, and an entire flock of domestic poultry in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

State Veterinarian Bob Gerlach said that he expects case numbers to rise throughout the summer.

“I think our detections in wild birds will probably going to go ahead and continue,” Gerlach said. “I think that’s going to be what everybody’s expecting. Our response to the poultry I think has been really good and people are protecting their poultry.”

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/05...d-in-unalaska/


Bird flu detected in red fox and eagles found dead in Unalaska
By Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage -
May 27, 2022

The new strain of bird flu that arrived in Alaska with the spring migration has now been detected in a fox that died in the Aleutian Islands.

Wildlife officials say the red fox, as well as eagles, found dead in the Unalaska area, were most likely feeding on birds that had died from the H5N1 avian influenza.

State veterinarian Dr. Bob Gerlach says that’s different from previous strains of bird flu.

“We generally don’t see avian influenza causing problems in these species, but this is an unusual case,” Gerlach said. “So between that and the significant number of mortalities among waterfowl, it’s a concern and significant.”...

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.nomenugget.com/news/resea...n-flu-outbreak

Researchers investigate Yukon Delta bird deaths amid avian flu outbreak
Thu, 06/09/2022 - 5:32pm admin
By Megan Gannon

An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza continues to infect wild birds in Alaska, and in the last few weeks, the Yukon Delta has seen a rise in reports of birds “loafing around” when they should be nesting, shaking their heads and displaying other signs that they might be sick.

Bryan Daniels, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service waterfowl biologist for the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, described what he was hearing from his crews working at research camps in the region.
“There appears to be much fewer nesting birds thus far,” Daniels wrote in a June 1 post on the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network. He said that crews in two active camps on the coast had counted about half the number of nests during all previous years reported “a lot of birds in flocks loafing around.”

“Since about May 25, crews have been seeing multiple species showing what we believe are signs of highly pathogenic avian influenza,” Daniels wrote. “The signs we are seeing widespread is a headshaking that we equate to ‘getting the cobwebs out,’ like a person may do when they first wake up.” That behavior was observed in a growing list of species: black brant, cackling geese, bar-tailed godwits, dunlin, lapland longspurs, spectacled eiders, emperor geese, greater white-fronted geese, sabines gulls, glaucous gulls and red-necked phalaropes...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.kcaw.org/2022/06/28/bird...case-reported/


Bird flu shows signs of slowing in Sitka, with only one recent case reported
Posted by Katherine Rose | Jun 28, 2022

Since late April, six eagles have tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza, or “bird flu” in Sitka. But only one of those cases was discovered in the last five weeks.

Jennifer Cedarleaf is the avian director at the Alaska Raptor Center. She says the most recent eagle that tested positive was found around June 10, but it takes a couple of weeks to get results.

“It wasn’t acting like the other birds that we’d seen had acted.” Cedarleaf says. And when we picked it up and felt how thin it was, we thought, ‘Oh, it’s just a skinny bird. But we’ll test it anyway.'”

Cedarleaf says that the eagle’s sample came back positive last Friday (6-24-22).

She says they’ve tested every bird they’ve picked up over the last couple of months– from ravens and crows to pigeons and robins, but so far they’ve only found the virus in eagles. After three weeks with no reported cases (prior to the discovery of the sixth case), the center began allowing its eagles some time outside again...

[sharon sanders]

bump this

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2022/08...ian-influenza/

Nome bird contracts Avian Influenza
By Davis Hovey | August 8, 2022 |

The Nome Census area now has a confirmed case of Avian Flu for 2022. A glaucous gull tested positive for H5N1 on July 18, according to the State Veterinarian’s office.

This comes on the heels of a red fox testing positive for the Avian Flu in Unalakleet earlier this summer, which is part of a statewide outbreak that has tallied more than 60 confirmed cases outside of poultry thus far.

“We’ve received samples throughout this summer but indeed this was the first sample that turned up positive for the Nome region,” Eric Taylor, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service migratory bird chief for the Alaska region, said.

Despite the virus being found in 17 different species of birds and a couple red foxes across the state, the agency is maintaining the status quo as it monitors the spread of Avian Influenza throughout Alaska, Taylor said.

“We don’t expect this thing to instantly disappear. Birds are starting to fledge and migrate here soon, very soon, in the fall. So we expect to still get observations across the state,” Taylor said...

It is unknown if the Nome glaucous gull was emaciated or also starving to death in addition to carrying Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI.

[sharon sanders]

bump this

[Shiloh]

Source: https://skagwaynews.com/2022/08/12/b...rs-in-skagway/


Bird flu appears in Skagway
By Melinda Munson|August 12th, 2022

The Skagway Bird Club’s rescue group began seeing high numbers of sick or dead crows the second week of July, according to Elaine Furbish, biologist and club member.

“American crows and a few Steller’s Jays were seen with wobbly heads, unable to coordinate walking or flying, or letting people get too close without reacting, and a rash of dead birds were reported,” she said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (F&WS) has been investigating the spread of a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Alaska, assisted by Alaska Fish & Game and the Alaska State Veterinarian Office in the Environmental Health Division. Dead birds suspected of having Avian Flu are tested for the presence of the virus by the state lab. The “highly pathogenic” in the name refers to being contagious to other birds, not humans, but there have been a very few cases of people getting sick, Furbish said.

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park agreed to coordinate the gathering of some of the dead birds for testing. The park sent five American Crows, one Steller’s Jay and one Rufous Hummingbird to the F&WS Anchorage lab.

“Please be careful around any birds,” Furbish said. Call Skagway Police Dispatch at 907-983-2232 to notify the bird rescue group. They will monitor sick birds and dispose of dead birds.”...