By Dan Groebner, AZGFD

The most common topic of discussion in the White Mountains these days has to be the extreme lack of any winter moisture, in any form. There is still plenty of time to get buried under some snow, and the closer to the fire season that we get the precipitation, the better. 

But the current drought could have some more immediate effects on wildlife in the area. It’s true that the lack of snow cover makes it easier for grazers and seed eaters to find food without scratching through a foot of snow. Warmer temperatures require less energy for animals to maintain their metabolism. And you may have noticed less activity at your bird feeders during our extremely mild winter.

However, with no precipitation, especially the snow pack, our local ponds, tanks, lakes, and reservoirs shrink in size, sometimes to small pools and puddles. Although there is still plenty of water to drink, concentrating this many waterfowl in smaller and smaller areas is just asking for otherwise uncommon or dormant diseases to pop up and create outbreaks. This is one reason folks are getting more concerned about a viral disease called avian influenza, or more commonly, the bird flu.

Bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), with the most current version also called H5N1, has a misleading name since it can infect mammals, too. Although it affects mostly birds, carnivores like foxes, skunks, raccoons, and bobcats have tested positive in the US. And unfortunately, this is just one of the many maladies that humans can catch from our pets, livestock, poultry, and wildlife.

The cause of the problem is a virus, which is not really alive like bacteria or parasites, so it needs a host to reproduce in and pass on more infective viral particles to nearby critters. Fortunately, these viruses are more sensitive than the small fragment of protein called a prion that spreads chronic wasting disease in deer and elk (but not in Arizona yet!).

No vaccination for bird flu is currently available, and it’s especially not practical for wildlife. The seasonal flu vaccine, even the most recently developed ones, does not protect against the bird flu. However, medicines designed to deal with the typical flu symptoms do work on bird flu and should be started as soon as symptoms appear. If a vaccine is eventually needed, there are already similar ones that can be adapted.

Although it appears that the bird flu can be transmitted to humans from animals, fewer than 100 people in the US have been confirmed to have contracted bird flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In Arizona, the two probable cases of the bird flu made full recoveries. 

People with an increased risk of catching the flu are those that work on poultry farms, backyard bird flock owners, animal care workers such as veterinarians and their staff, as well as public wildlife and health care workers responding to sick animal reports. So if you just like to be outdoors or hike along lakeshores, there is little chance of contracting this disease.

It’s important to note that there has been no human to human transmission in the US yet. The Centers for Disease Control is watching for that but hasn’t seen any dangerous progression. Risk to the public’s health is currently low, but this could change. Any virus can mutate and become more or less dangerous, so time will only tell. The CDC is actively deciphering the DNA sequences of human cases to see if a different strain has evolved, which may have occurred in the single fatal human case.

Since the flu can infect mammals, it has been found in concentrated dairy herds across the US. Raw milk has been shown to carry the virus, so the CDC recommends drinking only pasteurized milk since it kills bacteria and deactivates any virus in the milk. It is not known for sure if people can get bird flu from raw milk that has not been pasteurized, but this is one way to play it safe.

We are seeing the obvious effects of bird flu on the price of eggs, since many chicken flocks have been infected and needed to be culled, reducing the total number of laying hens. Turkey prices could also be affected since they are raised in large concentrated conditions like chickens.

With the congregation of wild waterfowl in smaller pools of water, they are also becoming vulnerable to this disease and are more likely to pass it on to other waterfowl. Fortunately, most wildlife is territorial and spreads themselves out when breeding and raising youngsters - if there is enough wetland habitat available. Exceptions are colonial nesting birds like cormorants, great blue herons, and black crowned night herons.

So, should we stop feeding birds until the outbreak goes away? Advice from the Fish and Wildlife Service states it is OK to continue feeding if you keep all your feeders clean and disinfected. Most feeder problems occur in the warmer months when bacteria can reproduce in a more moist and warm environment. But viruses can’t grow in feeders like that. Songbirds using your feeders are not likely to contract the disease due to their primarily solitary behaviors, and very few songbirds have tested positive for bird flu. Just clean the feeders regularly.

Wild birds that get infected most commonly include geese, ducks, eagles, redtail hawks, but the flu has also been confirmed in snowy owls, grackles, and a great horned owl. No birds have been confirmed to be infected in Navajo and Apache Counties yet, but it is nearby in Coconino County for sure. And an Abert’s squirrel tested positive for the virus in Navajo County.

The current statistics from the US Department of Agriculture show that 25% of samples submitted for testing come back positive, which includes about 12,000 cases in wild birds, almost 150,000,000 domestic poultry affected and nearly 1,000 dairy herds being monitored.

So how can we avoid getting sick from bird flu? If you have a backyard bird flock, the advice calls for constant monitoring of your birds and testing any sick individuals. Isolating your flock as much as possible from wild birds, especially waterfowl, is a must. The CDC also advises protecting yourself by always washing hands and never eating, smoking, vaping or drinking when tending to your flocks.

If you are a waterfowl hunter, rest assured that a well-cooked duck or goose (>165 degrees F internal temperature) will kill all viruses, so the game meat is certainly safe to eat. You do need to take precautions when cleaning the duck so as not to get infected through the mouth, nose or eyes.

The CDC is not sure of the transmission route yet, so it’s best to clean ducks and geese with latex gloves in a well-ventilated area and avoid any exposures to open wounds. Wash your hands and all equipment thoroughly after cleaning. Dispose of all the remains of the goose or duck in double bags and place in the garbage where wild animals or dogs can not get them.

Don’t be confused by some recent TV commercials and feed your dog any raw meat from harvested waterfowl. Waterfowl hunters with backyard poultry flocks should be extra cautious by keeping harvested wild game, hunting equipment and camo clothes separated from the domestic flocks.

Anybody observing erratic or abnormal behavior by any wildlife should call the Arizona Game and Fish Department hotline at 623-236-7201. Local law enforcement, as well as the County Health Departments, may also respond. The faster any sick animals can be removed and tested, the less likely they are to spread the disease to others.



With constant monitoring and management of infected poultry flocks and dairy herds, bird flu will hopefully just be a cause for a temporary bump in egg prices and not affect any wildlife at a population level.