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Minnesota - Second confirmed case of avian influenza reported in wild birds - a chickadee recovered in Ramsey County

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  • Minnesota - Second confirmed case of avian influenza reported in wild birds - a chickadee recovered in Ramsey County


    Black-capped chickadee

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickadee

    Second confirmed case of avian influenza reported in wild birds


    (Released July 10, 2015)


    A second confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been reported in a wild bird. A chickadee recovered in Ramsey County and delivered on June 10 to a wildlife rehabilitation center later tested positive for avian influenza.

    ?Since spring, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has been conducting wild bird surveillance and we continue to investigate how the virus is impacting birds,? said DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr. ?We are seeking more information about the chickadee, and are continuing plans to conduct expanded surveillance over the summer and fall by testing ducks and geese, and will be sampling hunter-harvested waterfowl throughout the state this fall.?

    In April, a Cooper?s hawk from Yellow Medicine County was the first Minnesota wild bird to test positive for the HPAI virus. While waterfowl are known to carry and potentially spread the virus, they don?t get sick or die. However, raptors and songbirds are thought to die from it once infected.

    Since December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported other individual wild-bird species in other states have tested positive for the virus. Among them are a Cooper?s hawk, several Canada geese, a peregrine falcon, two red-tailed hawks, a snowy owl, and a bald eagle.

    Since the discovery of HPAI in domestic poultry, DNR staff have collected almost 4,000 avian influenza samples, including just over 600 geese sampled as part of DNR?s statewide banding program. Until today, the Cooper?s hawk was the only positive sample identified.

    ?The report of a chickadee testing positive for avian influenza is the first detection of the disease in a songbird,? said Lou Cornicelli, wildlife research manager. ?This is further evidence that while waterfowl species can serve as a reservoir for avian influenza, other species are susceptible to the disease.?

    Cornicelli added that the chickadee was not turned into the DNR, so the agency does not have complete information about the circumstances surrounding the submission. ?It is common for small birds to be sent directly to rehab facilities. We will not be able to determine where or how the bird was infected, but these results highlight the complexity of how this virus is spread, and that it can impact both wild and domestic birds,? Cornicelli said. ?Although highly pathogenic H5 was diagnosed, the laboratory was unable to determine the exact virus strain, so we don?t know if was H5N2 or some other highly pathogenic strain.?

    The Legislature recently appropriated $350,000 to the DNR for avian influenza testing DNR plans to collaborate with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health and the University of Minnesota on research projects that identify both active virus and virus exposure using serology. For more information on avian influenza and the DNR?s surveillance effort, visit the DNR avian flu Web page.

    http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2015/07/...in-wild-birds/

    "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
    -Nelson Mandela

  • #2

    Location of the city of Vadnais Heights
    within Ramsey County, Minnesota



    Bird flu in Ramsey County chickadee is first highly pathogenic strain in U.S. songbird

    By Andy Rathbun
    POSTED: 07/10/2015 12:01:00 AM CDT | UPDATED: ABOUT 10 HOURS AGO
    ...
    Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota director Phil Jenni said the bird, which he believes was found in Vadnais Heights, exhibited "abnormal neurological signs" when it was brought to the center June 10.

    It's not uncommon for the Roseville facility to see such signs in ground-feeding animals, and the bird was immediately euthanized according to protocol. The chickadee was not in contact with any other animals at the facility, Jenni said, adding that the center has stepped up its bio-security measures because of the bird flu epidemic.

    The center sent the chickadee and six others that had displayed similar neurological signs to the University of Minnesota's diagnostic testing laboratory, and only one of the seven came back as having avian influenza. Further testing showed it was highly pathogenic avian influenza, Jenni said.
    ...

    A chickadee found in Ramsey County is the second wild bird in Minnesota — and the first songbird in the nation — to be confirmed as having highly pathogenic avian influenza.
    "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
    -Nelson Mandela

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    • #3
      The center sent the chickadee and six others that had displayed similar neurological signs to the University of Minnesota's diagnostic testing laboratory, and only one of the seven came back as having avian influenza.
      Both fungal toxins and botulism toxin exposures can cause neurological symptoms in groups of birds. Some research indicates that aflatoxin can suppress the immune system of birds in a way that makes them more susceptible to avian flu.


      The two separate strains of bird flu traced to wild birds in Whatcom County have been linked to the Wiser Lake area, which is three miles southwest of Lynden.
      December 17, 2014
      ... The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife collected the pintail duck after a die-off of about 50 to 100 wild birds at Wiser Lake over a short period of time, Ip said. Such die-offs are usual at this time of the year at the lake, where some 10,000 birds gather, and officials have documented poisoning from lead shot or a fungal disease called aspergillosis in past years.
      Most of the birds those birds that died at Wiser Lake did so because of aspergillosis, according to Ip....
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