The official name for Bird Flu is “Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza". Highly pathogenic means it has a high rate of death among birds. It’s also extremely contagious. The Bird Flu virus spreads directly through wild birds, poultry, cattle, and cats. It spreads indirectly through contaminated environments, such as feeding buckets.
Dr. Michael Nance evaluates and monitors the symptoms of animals in the Abilene Zoo. Nance keeps an eye on the Texas Parks and Wildlife monitoring system to see when the virus has been detected around the Abilene area and responds accordingly, “We’re always on the lookout for birds that are showing unusual signs. We have a lake right on our property. We have a lot of waterfowl that come through and that have been traditionally the carriers of the virus,” said Nance.
According to the USDA, the spread of bird flu increases during the fall and spring migrations. The spring migration usually begins in early March. That lake on the zoo campus is a big draw for migrating birds.
Robert Trejo, the general curator of the Abilene Zoo, said migration is a time of increased concern for their staff, “A lot of these birds are there outside. We’ll make sure they have covers on top because a lot of the time, it is passed through animal feces when they’re flying over or if they get into their feeders. So we’ll move their feeders, maybe put their feeder and bowls inside. And so that way, some of the wild little sparrows may not get into their feeders,” said Trejo.
The zoo also has to keep an eye out for feral cats, who can spread disease, “Whenever we do see cats that are running stray, we take our measures to trap them in humane traps and then get them sent over to our humane society to be tested,” said Trejo.
A few years ago, one of the zoo’s birds caught the avian flu and didn’t survive. Jenna Jarnagan was on staff at that time. Jarnagan, a caretaker for the birds, said that unlike poultry or egg commercial operations, at the zoo, infected birds do not have to be euthanized. If they catch it early enough, the staff isolates the infected bird and treats it to prevent the spread to other birds and animals in the zoo.
“We have a lot of different measures we can do to try and prevent the spread, like foot baths. So you have to clean your feet before you walk into an animal with a bird, or an area of the bird. And our animals are a little bit more isolated, so they’re not going to see as much of the public daily unless we take them out, so we would just not bring our birds out,” said Jarnagan.
The staff performs regular monitoring, which includes fecal checks three times a year, weekly weighing, and daily habitat cleaning. But it’s not uncommon for birds to have respiratory problems or colds. Treatment varies depending on the bird. “Some birds, you’re able to give just a medication in their food, or sometimes it has to be nebulizer treatment,” said Trejo.
Anytime there is an outbreak of bird flu, commercial avian operations and facilities like zoos implement added precautions for caretakers to avoid bringing disease in from the outside. Humans are at very low risk of catching any sort of virus from an animal. However, Trejo says when a keeper does not feel well, they either don’t work that day or wear a mask because humans can pass viruses to animals, “Those are things that are determined mainly by our veterinarian. So he’ll decide what’s a high risk and what’s a low risk. But in cases like that, we have to always be careful about washing our hands and make sure that we wear the proper masks and proper equipment so we don’t pass anything on to some of the animals,” said Trejo.
So far, their efforts have paid off during this outbreak. While the Abilene Zoo has not confirmed any cases of bird flu during this outbreak, the virus has been detected at zoos in San Antonio, Chicago, New York City, and Seattle.
To learn more about Bird Flu, visit this CDC webpage.