Victoria Caccia

Dr. Tredick

Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge Internship Summer 2022

August 15, 2022

Avian Influenza. AKA: The Bird Flu

Cases of avian influenza have been detected the beginning of this year (January 2022),

and it is negatively impacting hundreds of bird species in the United States as well as the rest of

the world. 54 countries have detected the flu. Newfoundland, Canada discovered the first case

that reached North America since 2015 (cdc.com) The avian influenza has been affecting bird

populations for decades throughout the world. Waterfowl, such as: geese, ducks, and swans,

are the main “Natural reservoirs” of the bird flu (CDC.gov). The CDC says that the disease is

caused by a viral infection, which affects the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract for birds. This

fatal disease can also be asymptomatic, which means that a bird may show no symptoms of

having this flu. This makes it easier to spread to other birds.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (HPAI) is the virus that was detected in the United

States in January of 2022. It was found in not only aquatic birds, but commercial poultry and

backyard and hobbyist flocks (CDC.gov). It is affecting domesticated chickens and turkeys as

well, hurting agriculture due to the loss of their profit.

The bird flu has been present for decades. Cases have been detected all around the

world. In the past decade alone, there has been an increase in the number and geographic

spread of the bird flu (CDC.gov). According to the CDC website, the largest increase in HPAI A

(H5N1) occurred between 2004 and 2006. From 2013 and 2021, subtypes of HPAI A(H5) and
A(H7) have been reported and caused “animal outbreaks globally” (CDC.gov). There were more

outbreaks between 2020-2021 than there have been in the past four years (CDC.gov). These

outbreaks have been reported in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia at the beginning of 2020

and more subtypes in the beginning of 2021. Multiple subtypes of the flu were reported in

poultry between the years 2020 and 2021. The CDC mentions that Europe saw the first

outbreak of HPAI A(H5N4) in wild birds. By the end of 2021, HPAI A(H5N1) viruses were

detected in the birds of Newfoundland, Canada. This marked the first reported case of the bird

flu since 2015 (CDC.gov).

The bird flu is a worldwide problem that affects wild birds and domestic poultry. In

October of 2020, the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, imposed a national housing order

(Caliendo, 2021). Rehabilitation centers, zoos, and hobby farms all took part in housing some of

these birds. HPAI is so contagious and can wipe out groups of birds. These facilities had no

guidelines on how to properly quarantine them (Caliendo, 2021). Vogelklas Karel Schot (VKS) is

a bird rescue located in the Netherlands. They receive on average 12,000 wild birds a year

(Caliendo, 2021). They did a study to show what events exposed birds to infection that causes

HPAI as well as bring some awareness to the problems that rehab centers face when dealing

with this virus. VKS bird center set up bird enclosures and put them into different groups based

on whether they tested positive. They divided up waterfowl, gulls, Anseriformes, and raptors

into two groups. They put new birds in individual cages. The quarantined birds had access to a

communal water pool, which was disinfected every week. They collected samples on cotton

swabs from the three water pools that were in each quarantined area. The data showed that

there were 68 total birds from group one and 56 in group two that tested positive for the virus.
The majority of those from group one consisted of waterfowl, 23 of them being swans. This

study shows how easily HPAI can be transmitted to birds through close contact. This can be a

problem for not just wild species, but the entire poultry industry.

The flu has come back to 2022. The data from The Raptor Center from University of

Minnesota has data on raptors with HPAI. Their data begins from March 28th through July 17th,

2022. The data shows the number of raptors that tested positive or negative since March. April

25th had the largest number of positive results with 45 raptors testing positive. Since April 25th,

the numbers slowly declined. June 20th was the first day that had zero negative cases. There

was one positive test result on July 7th, but then the number of positives went back to zero

from July 11th to July 17th. Altogether, there were 187 positive results (The Raptor Center 2022).

USDA also has data that shows the total number of detections in poultry throughout the entire

country since February through August. Their data compares the number of cases in backyard

flocks and commercial flocks. There were 190 commercial flocks and 220 backyard flocks that

tested positive. They also found that April had the highest number of cases for commercial

flocks. Backyard flocks spiked between April and May. Altogether, there have been a total of

40.18 million birds detected of HPAI (aphis.usda.gov, 2022). This compares to the CDC data that

tested wild birds. They both showed a maximum number of infected birds between April and

May. It also shows that the virus is widespread throughout many species of birds. It affects

raptors, poultry, and waterfowl.

The bald eagle is probably the most important bird to Americans. This bird represents

the country, and is protected nationally. Unfortunately, the HPAI virus does not care for the

status of birds and how they symbolize The United States. Their species is also at risk of avian
influenza. A small group of people noticed a pair of bald eagles that nested in a tree in their

neighborhood located in Milwaukee, WI. A YouTube video by WQAD News 8 shows wildlife

officials retrieving the female bird after she had been on the ground for a while. Unfortunately,

the female was infected with HPAI, and therefore, she had to be euthanized. There have been

more cases of this strain of avian influenza in 34 different states, eagles being affected in at

least 17 (WQAD News 8, 2022). Georgia was one of the states that detected HPAI in bald eagles.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources found that eagles along the coast of Georgia

have had nesting issues (wildlifemanagement.institute, 2022). According to survey leader, Dr.

Bob Sargent, successful nestlings along the coast in 2022 is down 30% compared to the success

rate of 78% from 2015 to 2022. They believe the eagles are becoming sick due to scavenging

sick or dead waterfowl, which have been the main source of HPAI

(wildlifemanagement.institute, 2022). According to the website, dead eagles have been found

with HPAI in other southern states such as North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. People

do not realize the damage this flu causes, and most people do not see what affects this flu has

on birds. Until they see it with their own eyes, most people have no idea that this pandemic is a

problem.

Avian influenza is also taking a toll on poultry. Most of the world eat chicken, and when

a bird pandemic comes by, it can be a huge problem for humans. There was an outbreak on

November 5, 2020 of HSN8 (avian flu) that occurred at an egg-hen farm in Kagawa prefecture,

Japan (Sakuma, 2021). The article written by Saki states this was the first HPAI poultry isolate in

Japan in 2020. Every single chicken that was positive with the flu died. The mortality rate was

100% (Sakuma, 2021). The researchers also found hemagglutinin of Kagawa11C2020 belongs to
clade 2.3.4B of the H5 Goose/Guangdong lineage and clusters with H5N8 HPAIVs isolated from

wild bird feces (Sakuma, 2021). The strains of HPAI found in the feces are closely related to

H5N8 HPAIVs, which were the strains found in the European countries in the winter of 2019-

2020. Similar strains from Japan have been seen in European birds. This means that the virus

spreads far and quickly. The spread of HPAI is dangerous for not only birds, but people too as it

has a negative impact on farming.

Avian influenza is so fatal. It has killed thousands of birds, and it is making the

populations of waterfowl, raptors, and domestic poultry drop. Wildlife rehabbers are having

trouble helping these birds because of lack of space for quarantining. One bird can infect a

whole population, so it is critical that they are kept separate. Farmers are suffering as their

poultry dies off from infected chickens and turkeys. One sick chicken can wipe out the entire

farm, which results in money loss. Not only that, but birds are beloved creatures by millions.

Watching numbers drop because of a virus that is spread so easily is scary. It causes more harm

than good, and it is very difficult to find a cure to. There are vaccines being given to domestic

birds, but there are millions of birds that are getting sick. Not every single one can be

vaccinated, so therefore, there is not much that humans can do to stop the avian influenzas.

Maybe one day scientists can find a way to track and vaccinate birds as they migrate. Maybe

one day in the future, there will be an end to the avian flu.
 Work Cited:

16, M. (2022, May 16). Highly pathogenic avian influenza a growing concern in wild bird
populations. Wildlife Management Institute. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from
https://wildlifemanagement.institute/brief/may-2022/highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-
growing-concern-wild-bird-populations

2022 confirmations of highly pathogenic avian influenza in commercial and backyard flocks.
USDA APHIS | 2022 Confirmations of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Commercial
and Backyard Flocks. (n.d.). Retrieved August 25, 2022, from
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-
diseaseinformation/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022

Caliendo, V., Mensink, M., Begeman, L., Embregts, C., de Vrijer, M., De Baerdemaeker, A.,
Scheuer, R., Vuong, O., Fouchier, R. A. M., & Kuiken, T. (2022). Highly pathogenic avian
influenza virus (H5N8) outbreak in a wild bird rescue center, The Netherlands:
Consequences and recommendations. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 53(1).
https://doi.org/10.1638/2021-0083

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, March 11). Current bird flu situation in wild
birds. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/wildbirds.htm

Sakuma, S., Uchida, Y., Kajita, M., Tanikawa, T., Mine, J., Tsunekuni, R., & Saito, T. (2021).
First outbreak of an H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus on a chicken farm in
Japan in 2020. Viruses, 13(3), 489. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13030489

The University of Minnesota . (n.d.). Highly pathogenic avian influenza (Hpai). The Raptor
Center. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://raptor.umn.edu/about-us/our-
research/HPAI

YouTube. (2022). Bird flu is taking a toll on eagles, wild birds. YouTube. Retrieved August 15,
2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFyvQ1ZpPt8.