United States: State officials and the health experts have announced today that avian influenza (bird flu) has been found in a group of backyard birds in Central Oahu, marking the first time the virus has been detected in Hawaii.
The Hawaii Department of Agriculture received a report on Tuesday about at least 10 dead birds, including ducks, a goose, and a zebra dove, from a property near the Wahiawa Wastewater Treatment Plant. Tests on the birds confirmed they had bird flu.
When infected, humans are not often sick with H5N1 avian influenza; symptoms reported for residents of the United States who work with the virus or are infected are mostly mild, according to the Department of Health in its press briefing.
” The risk of exposure to Hawaii residents at this time is considered low, however if you do find ill or dead birds, livestock or wild animals follow this advice: be smart and do not touch the carcass.”
As reported by Staradvertiser.com, most of the cases of H5N1 infection in humans in the mainland country have been reported in workers who come into close contact with infected animals,” said health officials.
In human avian flu the most common signs include conjunctivitis and upper respiratory sign such as throat irritation and cough. There was no local transmission and human to human transmission is still unknown, based on DOH.
Potential human exposure to the sick birds is currently being assessed by the Health Department said the officials, adding that antiviral medication for avian flu in human is available and is most effective if administered early, preferably at the onset of symptoms.
HPAI is highly fatal because it affects the birds and has severe consequences on the animal’s health leading to death.
Following confirmation of avian influenza, the agricultural officials issued a quarantine order that advises that all the birds on the property “must be disposed of,” and the area sanitized.
The officials failed to explain how the avian influenza virus got into Hawaii, but the state lies in the Pacific flyway of migratory birds from the continental US “Tight measures have been taken for bird disease control and entry restrictions have been worked on strictly to prevent diseases such as avian influenza from entering the Hawaiian state through air travel and sea transport,” the news release stated.