Avian Influenza has been detected in wild birds in Austin, local health authorities announced Wednesday.
According to Austin Public Health (APH), the bird flu virus was detected in tests by an area veterinary lab after dead birds were discovered in North Austin in early January. The information was reported to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
On Thursday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department confirmed that ducks collected from ponds at the Arboretum Shopping Center had preliminarily tested positive for bird flu.
Bird flu — also known as H5N1 — primarily affects wild birds, and has caused outbreaks in dairy cattle and poultry flocks in several U.S. states. It has also been sporadically detected in other animals.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk to humans from bird flu remains low. At least 66 Americans have contracted the disease, most of whom work closely with affected livestock. The CDC has not yet identified evidence of human-to-human transmission of the disease.
One U.S. person, a Louisiana resident, has died after contracting bird flu since the beginning of 2024. There have been around 950 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans internationally since 2003, and around half those people have died, according to World Health Organization data.
APH recommends that people who work with wild animals and livestock practice caution, and that folks generally keep themselves and their pets away from wild birds. Sick or dead birds and animals especially pose a risk.
That could mean being careful around animals you’re used to interacting with — like if you’re in the habit of feeding the ducks out at Mueller Park, City of Austin Wildlife Officer Emery Sadkin said.
“If you are going to continue feeding them, just be super, super cautious, because it is transmissible from bird to person,” Sadkin said. “If you’re seeing crusty eyes or the duck is wobbling … coughing, sneezing, stuff like that, then that’s stuff we want to know about.”
TPWD representatives discouraged feeding ducks and causing them to congregate in parks. They also recommended that bird feeders and bird baths be taken down.
For safety, Austin Public Health also recommends eating only pasteurized milk and cheese products — no raw milk. As for chicken and eggs, the CDC says they are safe to eat when fully cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Bird flu may also have an effect on local wallets; U.S. shoppers have encountered record-high egg prices in recent weeks, and some grocery stores have struggled to meet demand. That’s partly due to avian flu outbreaks that have resulted in the loss of entire poultry flocks at commercial farms, per a recent report by the USDA.
You can report dead or sick poultry to the Texas Animal Health Commission at 1-800-550-8242. If you see a group of dead waterfowl, like ducks, the sighting should be reported to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Wynne Davis contributed to this report.
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