NEW YORK STATE –– The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently announced that the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus has been found in multiple wild bird species in several areas of New York State.

No known HPAI human infections are documented in the U.S., and according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these recent cases of HPAI do not present an immediate public health concern.

Avian influenza (AI) is caused by an influenza virus carried by free-flying wild birds such as ducks, geese, gulls, and shorebirds. Generally, influenza viruses can infect some wildlife species without causing signs of disease, but new strains can emerge that cause illness with high mortality in both wild birds and domestic poultry. These strains are designated as highly pathogenic, or HPAI.

HPAI outbreaks in wild birds are often cyclical and tied to migration when birds are concentrated in large numbers. As birds spread out on the landscape during the nesting season, disease transmission is expected to decrease.

DEC is working cooperatively with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the agencies leading the joint HPAI incident response, as well as the State Department of Health and Cornell University.

To date in New York, HPAI has been found in captive chickens, pheasants, and ducks in Dutchess, Ulster, Monroe, and Fulton counties. HPAI was detected in free-ranging wild birds in Cayuga, Clinton, Montgomery, Monroe, Onondaga, Seneca, Suffolk, Nassau, Livingston, and Wayne counties.

Confirmed wild bird cases are listed on the USDA website and shown on the U.S. Geological Survey map.

While the risk of a person becoming infected is low, individuals can protect themselves by only harvesting game that appears to be healthy and properly cooking any game meat being eaten to an internal temperature of 165° F, which kills the virus.

To assist DEC’s efforts to track HPAI in wildlife and provide an early warning to the State Department of Agriculture and Markets and local poultry or gamebird operations, please report any suspicious deaths of species listed above to your local DEC regional office.