Cross-species spread of bird flu is raising concerns from bear management

CONDON- April 5 brought snow showers, but despite the reluctance of spring to come around the Swan Valley Connections hosted their annual Spring Bear Wake Up Social- a potluck and presentation on the local bear population.

Birdfeeders, outdoor pet shelters, gardens, and livestock can all attract the attention of a bear as it passes through, but in recent years the main concern for bear management has become chicken coops.

"Chickens are the new trash," has become a kind of catch-phrase for the local bear management groups but they credit Missoula area Bear Management Specialist, Jamie Jonkle with the first use.

The propensity for bears to break into chicken coops has brought a lot of new anxiety to those who monitor and police their interactions with humans, but according to Erik Wenum, a Grizzly & Black Bear & Mountain Lion Specialist with the Fish, Wildlife & Parks, (FWP), the leading cause for concern this year is the spread of avian flu.

Avian Influenza, or bird flu, is a respiratory illness primarily contracted and spread by bird species, but certain strains of the virus have been seen to infect mammals who prey on the birds or come in contact with them.

"Bird flu has always been around," Wenum said. "It's certainly gotten a lot of attention in the last 30 years."

Every year there is a new strain of the virus as it mutates and evolves. The most alarming strain right now is the H1H5, which has made the jump from birds to mammals.

"We've seen it in fox, skunk, coyotes, raccoons, bears- black bears and grizzly bears," Wenum said. "And now we have three cases of human transmission."

When asked if the virus could be contracted by domesticated dogs, Wenum said it has not been recorded, but because it was seen in other canines "it is possible" that it could spread to dogs.

Wenum has been working closely with Justin Brown, an Associate Professor of veterinary and biomedical engineering at Pennsylvania State to keep a record of how the virus is moving through animals in the wild.

According to data collected from dead birds, they expect this year to be worse than previous years.

"There's always been an ebb and flow, but right now this new strain did not ebb," Wenum said.

At this time they do not have a full understanding of how many bears may have contracted the virus, or how many of them suffer long term effects, but they have found bears who suffered from neurological problems caused by avian flu.

Wenum determined that a grizzly cub last year was suffering from seizures and would not have been able to survive. He was forced to euthanize the cub.

There isn't much that can be done to protect bears in the wilderness from a disease as it moves through the wilderness, even if a vaccine was created, the task of administering that vaccine to the bear population is hardly conceivable.

But controlling the spread of bird flu from domestic birds to bears and other mammals is a cause that local bear management can take up and the first line of defense is educating the public to mitigate the amount of contact between bears and birds.

"I can't stress strongly enough the need for electric fencing," Wenum said.

The virus can survive in chicken excrement for up to 104 days, so if a coop is cleaned and the waste is not properly disposed of then it still presents a risk to predators who could contract it while investigating the chicken scented garbage.

The Fish, Wildlife, and Parks is also stressing that any chickens who die suddenly or mysteriously should be bagged and taken to a local office for testing.

"If you have birds and you have a die-off, you have to completely gut the chicken coop, disinfect with a 10% bleach solution," Wenum said. "Wait at least 30 days, then you can get more chickens. Otherwise you're just going to expose the chickens you just bought. And they're going to die out too."