What's killing the swans in Swansea? Officials finally have an answer.
SWANSEA — Avian flu, also called bird flu, was the cause behind a cluster of deaths among the town’s swans, officials reported on Thursday.
Last month, Swansea’s animal control officer began monitoring a cluster of swans who were found dead in the town. Many of them turned up in the Compton’s Corner area of the Cole River in Ocean Grove. Animal Control Officer Lisa White notified the Massachusetts Division of Wildlife and Fisheries and sent some of the dead swans in for third-party testing.
In total, 24 swans and one goose have now died from the outbreak.
On Thursday, the town announced results from testing done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the National Wildlife Health Center and Tufts that said six dead swans and one good tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPIA.
“At this time, there have been no reports of Avian flu detected in humans or domestic livestock in Swansea or Bristol County,” the announcement read in part.
What is Avian flu? Is it dangerous to humans?
Avian flu, also called “bird flu,” is a common strain of influenza that is most commonly carried by waterbirds and is most dangerous for poultry like chickens and turkeys.
Avian flu is highly contagious among birds but is not commonly seen in humans. While rare, it can spread from birds to humans through saliva, nasal secretion and feces, according to the CDC.
"Human infections with bird flu viruses are rare but can occur, usually after close contact with infected birds," the CDC says on its website.
Most songbirds or other birds found in the yard, like cardinals, robins, sparrows, blue jays, crows, or pigeons, do not usually carry bird flu viruses that can impact people or poultry, the CDC says. It is also rare, although technically possible, for the virus to spread to animals such as foxes or cats who eat infected birds.
According to the CDC, Avian flu has been detected in around 6,500 wild birds in the U.S. since January of last year, the first time the virus has been seen in the country since 2016. The virus has mostly impacted poultry, with more than 58 million poultry animals infected since January of 2022.
Since the current outbreak among U.S. birds began, only one case of a person infected with Avian flu has been found, in New Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported cases of HPAI in wild birds in several other counties in Massachusetts this year including Barnstable, Plymouth, Norfolk, Essex, Hamden and Worcester counties. The swans in Swansea are the first birds in Bristol County to be found to be suffering from the virus.
What should Swansea residents do about dead swans?
The town is advising that residents who have domestic flocks take care to not expose their birds to the virus through contaminated shoes, clothing or equipment and to keep wild waterbirds away from their flock.
Residents should also avoid contact with birds as much as possible, the town said.
“The Town of Swansea will continue to work with our state and federal partners to monitor bird activity in the area and, if needed, conduct further testing,” Board of Selectmen Chairman Christopher R. Carreiro said in the town’s statement. “We would like to strongly reiterate that at this time we have had no reports of Avian flu detected in any residents or their domestic livestock, however, we urge community members to exercise extreme caution and not interact with any wild birds.”
What to do if you find a dead bird
If you find a deceased bird in Swansea: call Animal Control Officer Lisa White at 508-679-6446.
If the bird is domestic: call MDAR Animal Health at 617-626-1795, or use the online Poultry Disease Reporting Form.
If the bird is wild: call MDFG Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) at 508-389-6300.
For more information about Avian flu from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, click here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Swans in Swansea died from 'bird flu'
