The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has reported a probable outbreak of avian flu in waterfowl near Skagit Bay.
According to a news release, about 700 dead birds have been collected. Fish and Wildlife will test them for the H5N1 strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, a naturally occurring virus that is passed among wild birds.
Although results are not back yet, it's extremely likely that the birds died of avian flu, said Fish and Wildlife veterinarian Katherine Haman.
The probable outbreak is the latest avian flu incident in the state from this year's strain.
In November, 450 dead birds were removed from Wiser Lake in Whatcom County. Several tested positive for avian flu.
So far, the outbreak has affected mainly juvenile snow geese, as well as raptors. Two samples in Skagit County, from a red-tailed hawk and peregrine falcon, have come back positive since May.
Due to budget constraints, Fish and Wildlife has had to limit which birds to test, so the number of positive cases will not reflect the full number of birds infected.
Estimating the true impact of avian flu on the snow goose population in Skagit Valley would be difficult, said District Wildlife Biologist Robert Waddell.
However, because the population is large, Waddell said Fish and Wildlife isn't concerned about the disease having a significant impact on the population.
An outbreak of this size has not occurred in Skagit County before. Although historically avian flu has largely affected domestic birds, all cases so far are in wild birds in Skagit County.
During the last outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in North America, only 99 documented cases were among wild birds. As of a month ago, 3,600 birds in North America had been affected, said Haman.
Before the probable Skagit Bay outbreak, there were 85 documented cases in wild birds in the state. Fish and Wildlife has picked up about 1,400 dead birds in the Skagit Valley area in the past three weeks.
The virus is know to circulate in waterfowl such as snow geese and Canada geese. Raptors such as red-tailed hawks often have not been exposed to the virus before and do not have an immune defense to it, leaving them at greater danger.
While avian flu has been passed to mammals such as raccoons and harbor seals, it does not seem highly infectious, and its ability to infect humans is low, said Haman.
Fish and Wildlife asks that those who find dead birds refrain from handling them and report the dead birds.
