iStockphoto
A new strain of highly pathogenic bird flu (H5N9), which has never been seen in the United States before, was recently discovered on a duck farm in California. It has resulted in the culling of nearly 119,000 birds and an investigation by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
In December, a person in Louisiana was hospitalized with a severe case of the bird flu, becoming the first known human H5N1 infection in the United States. It was also the first bird flu case in the United States ever linked to backyard, non-commercial poultry.
H5N9, as well as H5N1, were both found in poultry at the farm in Merced County, California. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) reported the discovery to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and quarantined the area.
“The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in conjunction with State Animal Health and Wildlife Officials, are conducting comprehensive epidemiological investigations and enhanced surveillance in response to the HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] related events,” the WOAH wrote in a report.
WOAH added, “Ducks, both domestic and wild, are natural reservoirs for influenza A virus, and reassortment is not unexpected where more than one influenza A virus is circulating.”
So far, there have been 67 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the United States, resulting in one death. In late December, 20 big cats at a sanctuary in Washington state died from bird flu. A Chilean flamingo and harbor seal at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago also died from bird flu. All were H5N1 infections.
“The case of H5N9 confirmed in backyard ducks at a facility in California was a reassortment of the H5N1 D1.1 virus that has been circulating in U.S. birds. The finding was not unexpected, as it is not uncommon to see reassortments and ducks are reservoir hosts for influenza A viruses,” an APHIS spokesperson told Gizmodo in an email.
“While the current public health risk is low, CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures,” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on their website, which the organization notes is “being modified to comply with President Trump’s Executive Orders.”