Bird flu found in wild birds in Washington state: USDA

[pixy0stix]

news.yahoo.com/bird-flu-found-wild-birds-washington-state-usda-172003285.html

(Reuters) - Two strains of avian influenza have been confirmed in wild birds in Washington state, near the U.S. border with Canada, but there is no immediate cause for public health concerns, U.S. agriculture officials said on Wednesday.

Two separate virus strains were identified in Whatcom County, Washington, including H5N2 in northern pintail ducks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a statement.

This same strain has killed thousands of birds on two Canadian farms in British Columbia. [ID:nL2N0TN2BW] The other strain, H5N8, was found in captive gyrfalcons that were fed hunter-killed wild birds, the USDA said.

Neither virus has been found in U.S. commercial poultry, and no human cases with these viruses have been detected in the United States, Canada or internationally, the USDA said.

"There is no immediate public health concern with either of these avian influenza viruses," the statement said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there was an outbreak of H5N2 virus in a flock of chickens in Texas in 2004. That was the first U.S. outbreak of the virus in 20 years and no transmission of the virus to humans was reported at the time.

The H5N1 bird flu, which severely affected poultry in Asia, became a worldwide concern because in 2003 it was more easily spread among humans.

[havarti]

Please know that this is not a strain that is communicable to humans, but if you are in an affected area and you see a large die off of wild birds you should report it immediately to your state department of wildlife or department of agriculture.  To be safe you should not handle the birds either.

[downtoearth]

Dec 19, 2014 10:44:05 GMT -5 havarti said:

Please know that this is not a strain that is communicable to humans, but if you are in an affected area and you see a large die off of wild birds you should report it immediately to your state department of wildlife or department of agriculture.  To be safe you should not handle the birds either.

So it's not okay to joke about WA state having some of the lowest immunization rates in the country here?

[havarti]

Dec 19, 2014 11:23:30 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Dec 19, 2014 10:44:05 GMT -5 havarti said:

Please know that this is not a strain that is communicable to humans, but if you are in an affected area and you see a large die off of wild birds you should report it immediately to your state department of wildlife or department of agriculture.  To be safe you should not handle the birds either.

So it's not okay to joke about WA state having some of the lowest immunization rates in the country here?

To be safe, you should not handle Washintonians in general.

[downtoearth]

Dec 19, 2014 11:26:28 GMT -5 havarti said:

Dec 19, 2014 11:23:30 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

So it's not okay to joke about WA state having some of the lowest immunization rates in the country here?

To be safe, you should not handle Washintonians in general.

Where do I report a large die off to? Not Oregon, right?

[havarti]

Dec 19, 2014 11:42:54 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Dec 19, 2014 11:26:28 GMT -5 havarti said:

To be safe, you should not handle Washintonians in general.

Where do I report a large die off to? Not Oregon, right?

The other Washington, of course!