Grizzly bears test positive for bird flu in Montana, officials say

CNN — Three grizzly bears were euthanized in Montana after they became ill and tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, according to the state’s Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks. “They were euthanized due to their sickness and poor condition.” Avian influenza – commonly called bird flu – is a naturally occurring virus that spreads quickly in birds. “These mammals likely got infected from consuming carcasses of HPAI infected birds.” “Fortunately, unlike avian cases, generally small numbers of mammal cases have been reported in North America,” Ramsey said. “For now, we are continuing to test any bears that demonstrate neurologic symptoms or for which a cause of death is unknown.” While finding three grizzlies with bird flu in a short period of time may raise concerns, Ramsey said it may well be that there have been more cases that haven’t been detected. “When a large number of birds are found dead on a body of water, it gets noticed and reported… when someone sees a dead skunk, they may think nothing of it and not report it.” While it’s unknown just how prevalent the virus is in wild birds, “we know that the virus is active basically across the entire state due to the wide distribution of cases of HPAI mortality in some species of wild birds,” Ramsey said.