HONOLULU (KHON2) – Avian influenza is spreading across the islands for the first time and Hawaii Department of Agriculture officials said Hawaii is the last of the 50 states to see the disease.
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Local experts said the risk remains low for the public, but it is still wise to remain vigilant.
Local doctors said that some avian flu strains are mild, but others are more severe.
Protecting yourself from avian flu during the fall of seabirds
“And what we have now is very aggressive and very frustrating for the poultry industry. It can kill almost all the birds in the flock very quickly when it enters it,” said the medical director of Feather & Fur Dr. Brian Walsh.
Positive samples of avian flu from the Wahiawa wastewater facility were confirmed on Thursday, Nov. 7 and avian flu was detected one week later at the Wahiawa duck farm.
Officials confirmed on Monday, November 25 that a wild duck on Oahu’s north shore also tested positive for the virus – symptoms in humans are supposed to look like the flu.
“Nausea, fever, also, the risk of being infected by infected animals is low. Unless you have such a close relationship,” said UH assistant professor of microbiology Dr. Michael Morris.
Hawaii Department of Agriculture officials did not confirm why the infected duck on the North Shore was tested, other than to say the sample was left to them by a federal wildlife agency. Experts said the disease may have come here through an infected bird that migrated.
“And so one duck was able to – or some other bird of another species, we don’t really know, a migratory bird – brought it to Hawaii. So, the chances of them just going to that one sanctuary and not going anywhere else is very low,” said Dr. Walsh.
Experts said the risk to humans is still low in Hawaii, but they still advise people to call authorities before handling any dead animals – especially dead birds – on their own.
“So I mean, this is a big one, it’s probably a common thing. You know, avoid dead birds, avoid wild birds,” Dr. Walsh said.
“I would say call your local authorities. Let them catch up,” Dr Morris said. “That’s the concern, the passage of time and the complete discharge, can’t you make the avian flu jump from birds to cattle, cattle to humans and so on. And so that’s the concern. That’s why federal and state authorities, you know, kept infected animals. “
Government agencies such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Department of Agriculture are also involved in the local response.
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