Dead goose and swan on Pierce County lake prompt bird flu concerns
State officials are advising residents in the Lake Tapps area to take precautions against bird flu.
Staci Lehman, spokesperson for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), told The News Tribune they received reports of two dead birds – a goose and a swan – in the Lake Tapps area last week, before the Thanksgiving holiday.
“We chose not to test them for avian influenza because we have very limited resources – we usually reserve testing for large-scale mortalities. Given that there were hundreds of other live and apparently healthy birds at the lake at the time, we opted not to test at this time,” Lehman said. “We do ask people to report dead birds to us.”
The News Tribune asked Lehman if WDFW has a threshold for how many birds need to be reported in order for them to test for bird flu. Lehman said it’s very situation-dependent.
“We don’t have a threshold number, it’s more kind of [like] if there’s a lot of sick or dead birds we will. It kind of depends on the situation,” Lehman said. “In this case, it’s just because there were animals that seem to be unaffected, so we made that call.”
WDFW has veterinarians and biologists in the area, Lehman said, and they are continuing to track the potential spread of bird flu in the area. Residents should continue to exercise caution and take precautions against bird flu, Lehman said, because there is no treatment or vaccine for the virus.
“While avian influenza is not easily transferrable to people, especially if they take precautions and practice good hygiene, they should not touch sick birds, including trying to catch or transport them,” Lehman wrote in a follow-up email to The News Tribune. “Transporting birds can spread the virus to areas that are not already affected.”
If you absolutely have to pick up a dead bird, Lehman said, wear gloves, double-bag the trash can and stuff the carcass at the bottom of the trash so other animals like dogs and cats can’t get to it.
The News Tribune reached out to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. Kenny Via, spokesperson for TPCHD, redirected The News Tribune to WDFW but said they have resources available to help people reduce exposure to bird flu.
“As the local public health jurisdiction, we specifically investigate cases in humans and help educate the public about how to stay safe,” Via wrote in an email to The News Tribune. “The risk of humans contracting avian influenza is very low. Most infected people had significant contact with infected animals or their environments.”
TPCHD said that to avoid bird flu, residents should:
- Avoid consuming unpasteurized dairy products, or feeding those dairy products to their pets.
- Avoid eating raw or undercooked meat, and practice good hygiene when preparing meat to avoid cross-contamination.
- Wear personal protective equipment if you have “direct or close contact with sick or dead wild domesticated animals.”
To report dead birds in the area, you can use WDFW’s reporting tool at wdfw.wa.gov/get-involved/report-observations. To see more tips from TPCHD, visit tpchd.org/health/diseases/avian-influenza-bird-flu/.
