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The nation's six million feral pigs are destroying crops and preying on endangered species. But the most serious threat they pose is to human health.
Local farms help provide eggs with statewide shortage during avian flu outbreak.
Avian flu outbreak in Washington prompts cull of over 1 million eggs. This has led to a shortage of eggs in urbans areas such as Anchorage and rural communities in Alaska. The egg-shortage adds to the Covid-19 supply chain issues.
A new outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza is spreading among wild birds in North America. While there are only a few confirmed cases in Western Alaska, the scope of the outbreak still has…
NOAA Fisheries working with partners to determine the causes of death, and assess impacts.
As of June 16, 48 cases of highly pathogenic avian flu were detected across the state of Alaska, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. None of these confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza are in the northernmost regions of Alaska.
Birds that USFWS sent in from the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for testing for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have tested positive. Sabines gulls, glaucous gulls, and black brant all tested positive for HPAI.
It is egg hunting season in many rural Alaska communities, and harvesters want to know if they should be concerned about eating eggs from wild birds. According to guidance from the State of Alaska and USFWS, the risk from avian flu for people is very low.
Cases are being detected all over the state, from the Aleutians to Mat-Su to Haines and the Interior.“What we’re seeing this year is an unprecedented level of highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild birds,” said Andy Ramey of USGS.
The advice to hunters, don’t shoot or harvest game that appears sick. If you found an animal injured or dead, just leave it there. When processing, wear rubber gloves and washing the area the game was cleaned on. You should also cook game to an internal temperature of at least 165°F.
"Our hunters have a vast knowledge on a healthy bird. They know what a healthy bird looks like. If a goose has the symptoms of avian flu … people shouldn't eat it," said George Diamond of Cree Public Health.
Zoos across North America are moving their birds indoors and away from people and wildlife as they try to protect them from the highly contagious and potentially deadly avian influenza. Penguins may be the only birds visitors to many zoos can see right now, because they already are kept inside and usually protected behind glass in their exhibits, making it harder for the bird flu to reach them.
The particularly dangerous strain of avian influenza virus H5N8 has been detected in a mute swan found on the Kopli peninsula in Tallinn.
New study spotlights influenza virus that could wreak havoc if it adapts to humans.
News of avian flu outbreaks in dozens of states in the lower 48 have wildlife managers and bird hunters on edge as the spring migration gets underway in Alaska.
“Our past research in western Alaska has shown that while we have not detected the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, up to 70 per cent of the other avian influenza viruses isolated in this area were found to contain genetic material from Eurasia, providing evidence for high levels of intercontinental viral exchange,” said Andy Ramey, a scientist with the USGS and lead author of the recent report. “This is because Asian and North American migratory flyways overlap in western Alaska.”
As cases of avian flu continue to spread across Canada, B.C. poultry farmers are implementing quarantine measures from the highly infectious virus that can cause mass death in chicken flocks.
Fair organizers say they’re concerned about the spread of bird flu.
Avian flu and avian pox are causing serious ailments and mortality in bird populations, with the viruses being transmitted through direct contact, ingestion, and inhalation, while pesticides and toxic run-off from mining activities also contribute to avian disability and mortality.
When it comes to avian influenza, more commonly known as bird flu, all birds are not created equal.
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