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The H5N1 avian influenza virus — bird flu — is now spreading with costly and terrifying rapidity worldwide among wild birds and other animals, including domesticated ones such as chickens.
There is often no better option for an infected, domesticated animal than to destroy it.
Lakeland’s swans, which cohabit with wild and migratory birds onshore and on the water, are particularly at risk. The five dozen swans on Lake Morton live among ducks, geese, ibises, coots and pelicans.
“It spreads bird-to-bird,” My Pet’s Animal Hospital veterinarian Price Dickson, who cares for Lakeland’s swans, said this week.
Dickson said birds that flock together, such as the ibises, pelicans, ducks and geese, are even more at risk than the swans, who tend to live alone or with one mate.
It’s not just birds: While bird flu has not appeared in Polk County now as far as we know, there are many ways it could arrive. Pets can get and spread it. Cows are catching it.
The risk to humans is comparatively low, yet there have been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the United States since 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Outside the United States, the CDC reports, more than 950 cases of bird flu have been reported to the World Health Organization. About half of those have resulted in death.
It’s chickens: Poultry farmers throughout the U.S. are having to euthanize their infected flocks. That, coupled with the destruction of poultry farms throughout the southeast during last year’s hurricanes, has made egg prices skyrocket.
The Florida Department of Agriculture, however, has said consuming eggs and chickens is safe and that there is no evidence that eating poultry or eggs has ever infected anyone.
Wash your hands: “People with backyard chickens should be very, very careful with feeding the birds,” Dickson said. “If they’ve got pets at home, definitely wash clothing and wash hands before they do anything (else).”
Dickson also advised washing hands if you’re headed to Lake Morton to feed or interact with the birds and washing them again when you return home, before touching your own pets.
She said the bird flu symptoms to look out for now in your household pets or chickens is extreme fatigue, sneezing, and seizures.
Vax the swans: The United States Department of Agriculture is working to develop a vaccine to prevent the disease from spreading. Price Dickson said if that happens, the swans will all get shots.
“I would call a special swan roundup to vaccinate them,” she said, referring to the annual capture, check-up and treatment of the swans, which are descended from birds gifted to Lakeland from Queen Elizabeth II.
During last year’s roundup, there were 44 birds. There are now about 10 more, including two puddles of chirping, fluffy cygnets spotted with their parents in cages on the lake’s south shore Thursday morning.
Keep away: The USDA has a webpage dedicated to helping poultry farmers “Defend the Flock,” with tips on preventative measures.
The USDA Defend the Flock Resource Center recommends these steps to help keep birds safe:
- Keep your distance
- Keep it clean.
- Don’t haul disease home.
- Know the signs.
- Report sick birds.
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