As hunters prepare for waterfowl and migratory game bird seasons, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has posted information on its Web site, www.pgc.state.pa.us, to ensure hunters have the facts about avian influenza and wild birds. The information can be accessed by selecting “Avian Influenza” in the “Quick Clicks” box in the upper right corner of the agency’s homepage.
“We have compiled a list of important facts, answers to common questions and links to more detailed information on our website,” said Dr. Walt Cottrell, Game Commission wildlife veterinarian. “Migratory birds — typically waterfowl, shorebirds, gulls and terns — are natural carriers of avian influenza and are considered the natural reservoir for low-pathogenic strains of the disease. However, the impact of highly pathogenic H5N1 on migratory bird populations and the role that wild birds play in the spread of H5N1 is unclear.
“Scientists are uncertain if wild birds were the source of the H5N1 virus or if they acquired it from poultry. Once infected, wild birds could transport the virus to a new location, but these relatively few infected wild birds are rarely able to travel far.”
Avian influenza is a common disease of birds that rarely infects humans. These viruses are classified as having low pathogenicity or high pathogenicity based on the severity of the illness they cause in poultry, and most are not considered a public health threat.
The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza has not been detected in North America. Highly pathogenic strains, like highly pathogenic H5N1, cause severe illness and rapid death in poultry. H5N1 has caused the largest and most severe outbreaks in poultry on record. At present, the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus does not easily infect people and only very rarely spreads from person to person. In cases where the H5N1 strain has infected humans, it is a serious disease; while only about 220 people are known to have contracted the disease, about half of them have died.
“For prevention’s sake, hunters should follow routine precautions when handling game birds,” Cottrell said. “Do not kill, handle or eat sick game. Wear rubber or disposable latex gloves while handling and cleaning game, wash hands and thoroughly clean knives, equipment and surfaces that come in contact with game. Do not eat, drink or smoke while handling animals. All game and poultry products should be thoroughly cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Cottrell pointed out that a certain level of mortality in wild birds is normal, and that wild bird mortality occurs as a result of trauma, ingestion of pesticides, infections and accidents of nature, most of which pose no threat to the health of domestic animals or people. However, incidents of five or more ill or dead birds (not including pigeons) in the same geographic area over a one- or two-day period may indicate significant mortality and should be reported during regular business hours to the Game Commission Region Office that serves the area.
“Bag and refrigerate – but do not freeze – the birds in a cooler with ice until arrangements for pickup or disposal can be made,” Cottrell said. “Even in cases involving five or more birds, the cause of death can often be determined without laboratory testing. Game Commission staff may make arrangements to acquire dead birds or recommend disposing of them in a plastic bag in household trash that ends up at a regulated landfill.”
The Game Commission’s wild bird mortality investigations are part of a larger operation in cooperation with USDA Wildlife Services. In addition to following up on citizen reports of dead birds, Game Commission biologists are sampling live Canada geese and mallards statewide, as well as scaup (a species of diving duck) taken by hunters on Lake Erie, to test for avian influenza. Water samples also will be taken from areas where waterfowl congregate and tested for avian influenza.
Created in 1895 as an independent state agency, the Game Commission is responsible for conserving and managing all wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth, establishing hunting seasons and bag limits, enforcing hunting and trapping laws, and managing habitat on the 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands it has purchased over the years with hunting and furtaking license dollars to safeguard wildlife habitat. The agency also conducts numerous wildlife conservation programs for schools, civic organizations and sportsmen’s clubs.