A recent study by U.S. Geological Survey found that ducks in North American can be carriers of avian influenza viruses similar to those found in a 2016 outbreak in Indiana that led to the loss of hundred of thousands of chickens and turkeys.
“Viruses obtained by sampling wild birds in Alaska were included in this study,” said Andy Ramey, a research wildlife geneticist with the USGS Alaska Science Center in Anchorage. “We also included viruses obtained from throughout the United States and Canada. The wild bird virus most closely related to the highly pathogenic influenza A virus causing a poultry outbreak in Indiana turkeys originated from a lesser scaup sampled in Kentucky.”
Ramey said there is certainly a risk that influenza A viruses in wild birds could be introduced to Alaskan poultry in the absence of good bio-security practices.
“Most influenza viruses in wild birds are unlikely to cause disease in domestic birds, but some viruses, specifically those of the H5 or H7 subtype, have the potential to develop high pathogenicity in poultry meaning they could cause disease,” Ramey said.
“The U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Department of Agriculture continues to sample wild birds for influenza A viruses in Alaska to understand how viruses may be disseminated by wild birds from East Asia to North America and to gain further information as to how viruses are maintained in migratory birds in this region.
“One geographic area that continues to be a focus of this effort is Izembek National Wildlife Refuge,” he said.
Introductions of avian influenza viruses from wild birds to domestic poultry present a continuous threat to the poultry industry.
In 2016, the USGS developed a science strategy that focuses on producing science to inform the national surveillance plan, which is coordinated through state and federal agencies across North America, and agency partners responsible for safeguarding U.S. poultry. Samples collected for this study were obtained as part of federal Interagency Wild Bird Surveillance and National Institutes of Health Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance programs. The U.S. Geological Survey conducts research and monitoring of avian diseases to safeguard the Nation’s health, economy, and resources by leading science to understand and minimize exposures to infectious disease agents in the environment.
