Avian flu found in snowy owl in Oconto County
By Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel Updated: 6:53 a.m.
A snowy owl in Oconto County is the first wild bird in Wisconsin to test positive for an avian flu strain that is sweeping through poultry farms in the Midwest, including operations in Wisconsin.
The Department of Natural Resources reported on Thursday a single snowy owl ? the largest owl by weight in North America ? had died from the H5N2 avian influenza virus.
The owl is one of 11 wild dead birds that have been tested for the virus in Wisconsin, agency officials said. Test results on all of the birds have not yet been completed, but the snowy owl is the only bird known to have died from the virus.
Since April 13, the virus has been found on 10 Wisconsin farms in Barron, Chippewa, Jefferson and Juneau counties, bringing the total number of chickens and turkeys affected by the disease to nearly 1.8 million.
The latest finding is significant because it marks the first time the disease has been detected outside of a Wisconsin farm.
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Virus found in Wisconsin wild bird
In mid-April an adult male snowy owl found dead in Oconto County was submitted for necropsy and in early May tested positive for a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N2). The result from this owl does not indicate wide spread presence of the virus in Wisconsin's wild bird population and no cause of the current domestic poultry infections can be determined from this result. Wisconsin will continue to monitor for avian influenza in the wild bird population.
USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) maintains a list of all wild birds that have tested positive [PDF exit DNR] for highly pathogenic avian influenza in the United States. These birds are submitted for different reasons and may have been submitted as mortality investigations as well as those that might have been otherwise collected for surveillance.
The department monitors for AI in free-ranging wild birds in Wisconsin at all times through investigations of wild bird mortality events involving five or more birds. Currently, the DNR in cooperation with the USGS National Wildlife Health Center and others, has enhanced the surveillance efforts based on apparent species susceptibility to this circulating Avian Influenza and known locations of mortality events in domestic birds.
By Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel Updated: 6:53 a.m.
A snowy owl in Oconto County is the first wild bird in Wisconsin to test positive for an avian flu strain that is sweeping through poultry farms in the Midwest, including operations in Wisconsin.
The Department of Natural Resources reported on Thursday a single snowy owl ? the largest owl by weight in North America ? had died from the H5N2 avian influenza virus.
The owl is one of 11 wild dead birds that have been tested for the virus in Wisconsin, agency officials said. Test results on all of the birds have not yet been completed, but the snowy owl is the only bird known to have died from the virus.
Since April 13, the virus has been found on 10 Wisconsin farms in Barron, Chippewa, Jefferson and Juneau counties, bringing the total number of chickens and turkeys affected by the disease to nearly 1.8 million.
The latest finding is significant because it marks the first time the disease has been detected outside of a Wisconsin farm.
...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virus found in Wisconsin wild bird
In mid-April an adult male snowy owl found dead in Oconto County was submitted for necropsy and in early May tested positive for a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N2). The result from this owl does not indicate wide spread presence of the virus in Wisconsin's wild bird population and no cause of the current domestic poultry infections can be determined from this result. Wisconsin will continue to monitor for avian influenza in the wild bird population.
USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) maintains a list of all wild birds that have tested positive [PDF exit DNR] for highly pathogenic avian influenza in the United States. These birds are submitted for different reasons and may have been submitted as mortality investigations as well as those that might have been otherwise collected for surveillance.
The department monitors for AI in free-ranging wild birds in Wisconsin at all times through investigations of wild bird mortality events involving five or more birds. Currently, the DNR in cooperation with the USGS National Wildlife Health Center and others, has enhanced the surveillance efforts based on apparent species susceptibility to this circulating Avian Influenza and known locations of mortality events in domestic birds.
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