As bird flu circulates around the country, what’s the risk to Hilton Head’s wild birds?
While the bird flu moves through poultry farms across the country, it’s effects extend beyond the cost of eggs on grocery store shelves. Reports of dead birds washing up on Lake Michigan and Cape Cod’s shore point to outbreaks among wild birds as well. The avian influenza has been present in South Carolina for the past few years. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources is collaborating with the USDA to monitor the spread in wild birds.
Beaufort County hasn’t reported any wild bird deaths that resulted from bird flu since the beginning of the outbreak in 2022. There are a number of cases in surrounding counties. Jasper County reported four dead wood ducks in late 2023. In Hampton County, a bald eagle died from bird flu in early 2024. Testing showed a number of game birds in Colleton County in late 2024.
The highly pathogenic version of the virus, which causes severe illness, has been circulating since 2022 and has a wide range of impacts on wild birds. This type of virus is different from a low pathogenic virus that has circulated in wild birds for decades and causes little to no symptoms.
In South Carolina, any monitoring of the virus tends to occur when dead birds appear as well as waterfowl that are killed by hunters. Now that the virus is widespread, or endemic, throughout the state, the agencies involved tend to conduct less testing, according to Stephen Fastenau, the assistant director of public information at the SCDNR said.
Some ducks and other waterfowl species have experience little to no effects from the highly pathogenic version of the virus, while other species become very sick and often die as a result of the illness. Bald Eagles, turkey vultures and certain types of shorebirds are known to be particularly affected, Rebecca Poulson, an assistance professor at the University of Georgia’s Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, said.
It’s common for the virus to spread through water that ducks, who are common carriers of the virus, defecate in. Poulson said that it’s possible other transmission pathways are at play as well.
“We think about these viruses impacting and hawks and eagles and so in many of these cases, it seems like potential routes of transition may involve these animals actually consuming sick or dying things in the environment,” Poulson said.
Bird that are in the later stages of a bird flu infection act erratically, often stumbling and tripping around, Poulson said. People who come across a dead or sick bird should not touch or move it unless they have the proper personal protective equipment, according to the CDC.
At the moment, experts are primarily concerned with stopping the spread of the virus between wild birds and captive poultry on farms, Fastenau said. When commercial poultry flocks become infected with the virus, often farmers need to cull, or kill, large numbers of birds to stop any further spread of the virus. This process has contributed to the egg shortage and a notable increase in prices.
Any people hunting waterfowl, such as ducks, should consider wearing gloves and masks, avoid blood and feces and cook the meat thoroughly, according to Fastenau.
