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| Freedom the bald eagle, Georgia Southern's mascot. Photo By: Kaz Thomas |
The University of Georgia is identifying new cases of avian flu spreading across
the state, notably affecting bald eagles.
Avian flu, or Influenza A has not
previously been identified in Georgia’s bald eagles, making this development a
new risk for the species. The population is currently labeled as “Least Concern”
after being endangered until 2007.
The nest success rate for bald eagles on
Georgia’s coast was found to be over 30% lower than usual, with avian flu
“playing a substantial role in that remarkably substantial drop,” according to
Bob Sargent, a program manager for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Wild birds such as bald eagles fly long distances during winter migrations to
warm climates, increasing the risk of avian flu in birds from each area. This
makes social poultry such as chickens and ducks more susceptible to the virus as
wild species fly in.
Unfortunately infected birds must be culled to prevent the
spread of the disease. “I’ve heard about it and learned that they stopped
allowing chickens to be sold or traded at certain places, but not all,” said
hobbyist poultry farmer Lilly Johnson. “I haven’t seen any affected by it
though, and I hope it doesn’t get bad.”
In order to keep the domesticated birds
healthy, Johnson uses “medicated feed” as well as doing daily cleaning for their
water pools.
Some farmers use vaccines to keep their poultry free of common
ailments such as bronchitis, Fowl Pox and cholera.
Avian flu vaccines are
available but not widely used since it makes it difficult to monitor symptoms of
an outbreak, a method known as “surveillance testing” for visual signs of
sickness in the birds. In addition, an effective avian flu vaccine is still
being developed to withstand constant mutations the virus may undergo.
According
to OSHA, the symptoms of avian flu in birds is “sudden death; lack of energy,
appetite, and coordination; purple discoloration and/or swelling of various body
parts; diarrhea; nasal discharge; coughing; sneezing; and reduced egg production
and/or soft-shelled or misshapen eggs.”
This strain of bird flu is currently not
affecting humans, though it has made the jump to other bird species. According
to the CDC, domestic poultry and wild species may contract avian flu by “direct
contact with infected waterfowl or other infected poultry, or through contact
with surfaces that have been contaminated with the viruses.”
Georgia Southern’s
Wildlife Center in Statesboro maintains a large collection of wild-born raptors
and domestic waterfowl, including a bald eagle known as Freedom, the school
mascot.
Bald eagles are central to the identity of Georgia Southern students and
faculty, and Freedom flies over the Allen E. Paulson Stadium at every major
event.
“The bird flu is concerning especially for the wild population, bald
eagles made such a good comeback from the endangered species list,” said Scott
Courdin, Wildlife Curator of Georgia Southern.
“Bird flu, it’s something that
happens yearly. It does hit different parts of the United States, oftentimes
it’s very localized and doesn’t go very far. Sometimes it spreads much farther
and it affects a lot more birds than just bald eagles.”
Domestic poultry
infections are of high concern since the birds are raised in close proximity to
each other. Raptors at the Wildlife Center are fed with domestic poultry such as
farm raised quail and chicks as well as rodents.
“If my quail producer had to
eliminate his flock, we still have the mice and rats. We have other options if
one of those food sources were to go down.” Courdin said.
Though some of the
raptors are housed in open air sections, Courdin explained that it was highly
unlikely for an infected bird to land among them. The territorial nature of the
captive birds in addition to the varied species causes wild populations to be
repelled quickly.
Currently eagle deaths have been confirmed in Chatham, Glynn
and Liberty county, concentrated in northern Georgia.
Epidemiologists are
monitoring the avian flu strain as it spreads across the United States, pointing
towards a trend of mass poultry die offs.