Several dead birds have shown up south of Flagler county which the FWC believes to be caused by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) “Bird Flu”.
The deaths of lesser scaups (medium-sized diving duck), black vultures and other avian species were reported in Brevard, Volusia and Palm Beach counties.
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There is a low risk of HPAI transmission to humans and, so far, there have been no known human infections in North America.
To prevent the spread of HPAI, the public should avoid handling sick or dead wildlife, prohibit the contact of domestic birds with wild birds, and report wild bird mortalities so die-offs can be investigated https://app.myfwc.com/FWRI/AvianMortality/
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer says commercial and backyard poultry owners should take the following precautions to minimize the risk of introduction of influenza into our Florida poultry flocks.
1. Avoid any contact with wild birds of any kind, especially waterfowl, their habitat, or their droppings.
2. Take the necessary precautions around any congregation points for growers or backyard owners – do not bring disease back to your poultry flock.
3. Monitor all flocks for increased mortality or clinical signs consistent with HPAI and report any concerns immediately. To date, the consistent clinical sign in all the current reported cases has been a marked, rapid increase in mortality over several days.