An Alaskan polar bear has become the first of its kind to die from bird flu, as highly pathogenic bird flu continues to spread around the world.
The polar bear — listed as endangered on the endangered species list — was found dead in October near Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost community in the United States.
On December 6, Alaska's state veterinarian confirmed that the bear died of bird flu – the world's first recorded fatal case for the species.
Dr. Bob Gerlach, Alaska's state veterinarian, told the story Alaska Beacon this case was reported to the World Organization for Animal Health.
“This is the first reported case of polar bears anywhere,” Gerlach said.
Alaska's state veterinarian has confirmed that a polar bear has died of bird flu – the world's first fatal case for the species (stock image)
The polar bear – listed as endangered on the endangered species list – was found dead in October near Utqiagvik, Alaska (pictured), the northernmost community in the US.
He said polar bears normally eat seals, but this bear likely contracted the virus by eating a dead bird.
Gerlach noted that because of the environment and the nature of the disease, the polar bear did not have to directly eat an infected bird to become ill.
“If a bird dies from this, especially if it is kept in a cold environment, the virus can persist in the environment for a while,” he said.
The latest bird flu outbreak reached North America in December 2021, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, according to the Geological Survey of the United States.
Subsequently, HPAI EA H5 and EA H5N1 viruses have been confirmed in wild birds, backyard flocks, commercial poultry farms, and wild mammals in both Canada and the United States.
Although it currently remains a low threat to human health, reported the CDCit tears through flocks of wild birds and poultry around the world.
Highly pathogenic bird flu causes serious illness and high mortality among infected birds.
In September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture placed restrictions on poultry imports from France, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway due to the increased risk of introducing bird flu into the United States.
The USDA, which considers the beginning of this latest outbreak to be February 8, 2022, has detected bird flu in a total of 1,059 poultry flocks in 47 states.
Last winter, bird flu led to rising egg prices and there are fears that 'egg inflation' could return
The USDA, which considers the beginning of this latest outbreak February 8, 2022, has identified bird flu in a total of 1,059 poultry flocks in 47 states – 451 flocks were commercial and 608 flocks were backyard – as of January 1, 2024.
In their latest wild bird data, published on December 26, the total detection since January 1, 2022 in wild birds is 8,547.
The USDA reported several other detections of highly pathogenic bird flu in mammals between 2022 and 2023, including seals, skunks, mountain lions, red foxes, raccoons and even a bottlenose dolphin.
Last winter, a double whammy from the worst bird flu outbreak in years, farmers facing high feed and fuel costs saw prices for a dozen rise above $5 for the first time.
Prices have fallen steadily since then, but it appears eggflation has returned in the US, according to Datasembly analysis for DailyMail.com, as egg prices rose 11.4 percent in November.