Birds reportedly dropping from sky as bird flu pops up in Kansas City area
By Krista Tatschl
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KANSAS CITY, MIssouri (KMBC) — The geese that dot the skyline across the Midwest have been seen dropping from it on both sides of the state line.
Hundreds of birds have succumbed to avian influenza, which is more commonly known as bird flu.
Biologists at the Kansas Department of Wildlife say bird flu has been documented in 17 counties in Kansas and spikes during the spring and during the months of November and December.
“It can be a shocking sight … those infected birds get fatigued and can fall from the sky,” biologist Tom Bidrowski said.
This flu is highly contagious and spreads quickly through migratory birds and other animals native to the Midwest, such as deer, mice, red foxes, striped skunks and domestic cats.
It can be spread among household pets if they eat the meat of an infected animal or eat the infected animal’s waste.
“It just blew up last week. I got four calls in one hour,” Tyler Offenbacker of Wildlife Control, a private animal control service in Smithville, Missouri, said. “It’s in our nature to want to help a wounded animal, but you don’t want to be picking animals up.”
Avian influenza has been reported in 19 Missouri counties. Its symptoms hit animals differently, but many exhibit strange behavior such as stumbling or tripping, secreting a nasal discharge or wheezing.
In Douglas County, Kansas, last week, a flock of noncommercial backyard chickens contracted the bird flu and had to be destroyed by the Lawrence Department of Public Health.
On Dec. 6, the United States Department of Agriculture mandated that dairy cattle must undergo testing of their raw milk for avian influenza due to recent outbreaks of the virus.
The bird flu is deadly to animals but relatively harmless to humans.
Only 58 humans have contracted avian influenza, and all recovered. If a community member notices a distressed, injured or dead animal, they are urged to call local animal control services.
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