Wildlife disease specialists California Department of Fish and Wildlife ?CDFW, for its acronym in English? confirmed the death of an adult bobcat due to the Eurasian strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza ?IAAP? H5N1. In Butte County.
Notably, this is the first detection of the virus in a wild mammal in the state of California.
The bobcat remains were collected in Butte County by CDFW on December 23, 2022 and samples were sent to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System for preliminary testing.
On January 24, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories of the US Department of Agriculture ?USDA, for its acronym in English? confirmed the detection of H5N1 avian influenza in the bobcat.
Elsewhere in the US and Canada, there have been regular detections of Eurasian HPAI H5N1 in carnivorous mammals, including foxes, bobcats, raccoons, and skunks.
The bobcat was wearing a GPS collar as part of a CDFW population study, which was equipped with a sensor that alerted biologists when the animal stopped moving for an abnormal amount of time. CDFW biologists located the remains and began an investigation into the bobcat's cause of death.
H5N1 Avian Influenza was first detected in wild birds in California in July 2022. To date, this disease has been detected in wild birds in 44 counties. While the California Department of Food and Agriculture ?CDFA? also reported detections of H5N1 avian influenza in domestic birds in 18 counties.
Waterfowl and domestic birds are especially vulnerable to the disease. The H5N1 strain currently circulating in the US and Canada has been causing illness and death in a greater diversity of wild bird species than during previous avian influenza outbreaks, affecting birds of prey and scavengers such as turkey vultures and the crows.
Mammalian and avian predators and scavengers can be exposed to avian influenza viruses when they feed on infected birds. This bobcat was found in an area where HPAI H5N1 had recently been detected in a turkey vulture.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control ?CDC, for its acronym in English? consider that the risk of transmission of avian influenza to people is low, but recommend taking basic protective measures? That is, wearing gloves and masks and washing hands? if contact with wildlife cannot be avoided.
CDFW does not recommend that people handle or house sick wild animals. But sick or dead poultry and pet birds should be reported to the CDFA hotline at (866) 922-2473.
On February 8, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization -WHO?, noted that in recent weeks there have been several reports of mammals, including foxes and sea lions registering H5N1 infection throughout the world. the world.
In a message, he stressed that the H5N1 bird flu has spread widely in wild birds and poultry for 25 years, but the recent spread to mammals must be closely watched.
“At the moment, the WHO considers that the risk to humans is low since the appearance of the H5N1 virus in 1996. We have only seen rare cases and no sustained cases of transmission of the disease between humans. But we cannot take it for granted that this will continue and we must prepare for any change in the status quo," he stressed.
It also recommended that countries strengthen surveillance in environments where people and farm or wild animals interact, and continue to collaborate with manufacturers to ensure that, if necessary, vaccines and antivirals are available for global use.
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