Texas Parks and Wildlife is urging Texans to stop feeding birds at area parks, take down bird feeders, and remove any bird baths. In case you missed it, bird flu is in Texas and has been since at least December, but this month, officials are raising alarms.
Last week there were multiple dead ducks found at a pond in northwest Austin, adding Travis County to a list of others with confirmed Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, aka the bird flu. The outbreak has also been documented in Wharton, Galveston, El Paso, Potter, and Harris counties according to KERA.
The risk of transmission to humans is low, but the virus has shown it has the potential to mutate, and the first confirmed human death of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu outbreak happened in Louisiana this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Jan. 6. Still, the risk to the general public remains low and the CDC says no person-to-person transmission spread has been identified.
Texas Parks and Wildlife is warning people to be vigilant and avoid handling any sick or dead wildlife. They also urge Texans to keep an eye on their pets and make sure they don’t “consume any wild carcasses.”
Read more at KERA.
