Alaska's first report of an avian flu strain potentially deadly to domestic fowl, recently found in a Fairbanks duck, has drawn a warning from Alaska authorities to bird owners and hunters.
Avian flu is not readily transmitted from birds to humans, and state veterinarian Bob Gerlach said no such incidents have been reported in Alaska.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists collected the sample containing Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N2 virus, or HPAI, from a mallard during a routine bird-banding activity.
The presence of HPAI — which hasn't been seen in U.S. wild birds or poultry since June 2015, according to Reuters — was subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to a Friday statement from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
"The genetic analysis of the virus most recently confirmed shows that the virus is a mixture of Eurasian and North American viruses and is 99 percent similar to the HPAI virus found in Washington state in the winter of 2014 and the outbreak in the Midwest in 2015," state officials wrote.
Gerlach said the sample was collected during the second week of August at the Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in Fairbanks, managed by Fish and Game. Neither the infected mallard nor any of the other banded birds showed symptoms — since ducks, along with other waterfowl, are routinely carriers of the disease.
"All these birds were healthy, normal birds," Gerlach said. "Avian flu is common in waterfowl, and they generally do not cause illness in those birds."
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Birds intended for consumption should be handled in a sanitary manner and cooked to internal temperatures of 165 degrees under standard anti-disease precautions, Gerlach said.
He said hunters, one of the groups most likely to come into contact with infected waterfowl, don't face major risks from the virus.
"Because this virus is not considered to be a public health threat, we want to be sure they understand that and that it's not a threat to their hunting dogs," Gerlach said.
HPAI's real threat is to domestic fowl — backyard Alaska poultry operations that Gerlach said are as large as several hundred birds, in addition to pet birds. When the disease surfaced in 2014, mortality rates in some Washington flocks were as high as 80 percent to 90 percent.
"Birds would show signs of the illness, develop symptoms of the illness — in one to three days, the birds would be dead," Gerlach said. "They start to look depressed; they may have problems breathing; they may have discharges from their noses or eyes."
No signs of HPAI have previously been detected in Alaska's domestic or wild birds, Gerlach said, with no avian flu of any kind ever reported in domestic bird populations.
State officials are urging domestic bird owners to check their flock plans, protect birds from exposures such as eating from bird feeders or drinking from ponds also used by waterfowl, and monitor their birds for any signs of illness. Birds with symptoms, or incidences of more than 10 dead birds, should be reported to Gerlach's office at 907-375-8215, Fish and Game at 907-328-8354 or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 866-527-3358.
Gerlach recommended a video produced by the Texas Animal Health Commission as an overview of steps people should take to protect domestic fowl from avian flu. In addition, DEC has posted an online fact sheet about avian flu.
In the meantime, state and federal officials are continuing to monitor Alaska bird populations for signs of HPAI, a project Gerlach said dates back to the 2005 outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu in Asia. The USDA has notified officials in Canada and Mexico and is stepping up its overall surveillance of wild bird populations.
State biologists are also collecting samples from any birds arriving at this season's summer fairs across Alaska, including the Alaska State Fair in Palmer.