Two cases of highly-pathogenic avian influenza were isolated in the Whatcom County area of Washington state this past week. State veterinarians reported that the first case was diagnosed in a captive Gyrfalcon that had been fed hunter-caught wild duck meat. The case was reported after the owner notified officials to signs of illness in his birds. Samples were sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory where they were sequenced and found to be H5N8, a Euro-Asian strain similar to that isolated from the South Korean, Japanese, and European outbreaks.
The second case, from a wild pintail duck, is confirmed to be H5N2, the strain currently present in commercial poultry flocks in British Columbia. This case was reported to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife after a waterfowl die-off on Wiser Lake in Washington, and the virus may be a recombinant strain with the H5N8 strain. Both cases were located close to the Canadian border, and neither case was in proximity to either backyard or commercial flocks.
Another case has been confirmed by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health inspection Service in a backyard flock in Oregon. Yesterday, a poultry owner in Winston, Oregon contacted APHIS to report illness in the owner’s flock of approximately 100 mixed birds (chickens, guinea, fowl, and assorted ducks). Samples were taken and are confirmed to be the H5N8 strain.
The flock owner’s facilities contained an open water source where the flock was able to interact with wild waterfowl. Therefore, it is suspected that this was the route of virus transmission. The flock is located more than 100 miles from the nearest commercial poultry source, and there is little concern of spread at this time. Authorities will take appropriate actions to depopulate the flock this weekend and set up an incident and surveillance zone around the area.
APHIS will be monitoring fly-ways and investigating reports of illness in susceptible populations of domesticated and non-domesticated birds. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention does not consider either of the reported strains to pose a risk of spread from wild birds to humans and USDA has reiterated that all poultry, poultry products, and wild birds are safe to eat if they are properly handled and cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
The reports of avian influenza in Washington have affected trade, with Russia announcing on Wednesday that they will restrict imports on the following products effective December 18:
- “From the whole territory of the U.S.A. – poultry meat and all kinds of poultry products that were not heat-treated (no less than 70 Centigrade), feeds and feed additives for birds (excepting for feed additives of chemical and microbiological synthesis), as well as used equipment for keeping, slaughtering and cutting birds, down and feather;
- From the territory of the state of Washington of the United States of America – live birds and hatching eggs, poultry meat and all kinds of poultry products that were not heat-treated (no less than 70 Centigrade), feeds and fed additives for birds (except for feed additives of chemical and microbiological synthesis), as well as used equipment for keeping, slaughtering and cutting birds, down and feather.”
Shipments of live birds and hatching eggs from outside Washington state in the U.S. to Russia must be accompanied by the following notation concerning freedom from Avian Influenza in relevant veterinary certificates: “except for the state of Washington of the United States of America.”
