Woodland Park Zoo ramps up safety precautions after confirmed avian flu case

The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle is taking extra precautions after a confirmed case of the avian flu.

According to a news release from the zoo, a red-breasted goose has died and is the first suspected case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) at Woodland Park. The zoo received an initial positive test Thursday and found it dead earlier this week.

The zoo stated it is taking health and safety precautions to protect animals, staff and guests, adding the measures will be enacted immediately.

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The safety measures include: access to birds will be limited to their care providers, all volunteer activity, private tours and special experiences are canceled, all open-air walk-through aviaries will be closed, except the tropical rainforest, penguin feeding experiences are canceled, ambassador animal birds will not participate in experiences and bird care staff will continue to wear increased safety equipment.

Woodland Park said it will continue to evaluate the health of its animals and will adjust safety guidelines as needed.

It added the goose and other red-breasted geese that shared a space with the animal, lived in an off-exhibit and guests were not exposed to the animal. The remaining geese will be quarantined for up to 120 days.

Along with quarantine, all planned moves of birds to or from Woodland Park have been canceled for the time being.

“Red-breasted geese are a rare, threatened species and it is the hope of Woodland Park Zoo to protect and support a healthy population,” the zoo stated.

The zoo added it will release an update if there is a significant change.

Earlier this month, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) reported a sixth case of avian flu in Washington.

According to the WSDA, an owner of a flock — described as a combination of between 100 and 1,000 chickens and waterfowl — noticed several of his birds had died and others were showing symptoms, including neurological issues, causing the owner to contact the state agency.

A WSDA test came back as non-negative, or a “presumptive positive,” meaning the state presumes bird flu is prevalent throughout the specific flock. While it’s uncertain when the flock owner became aware, the WSDA stated it officially detected bird flu on Nov 5.

The recent case brought the state’s total to six bird flu cases since October. Other cases involved flocks in Stevens and Okanogan Counties. Veterinarians said the biggest risk to birds is direct contact with ducks, geese and other wild waterfowl that migrate north in the summer months before returning south in the winter, meeting and mixing with other birds from around the globe.

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The WSDA has a place on its website for flock owners to report any issues. If state officials suspect bird flu, they first take samples from a suspected farm and have those samples tested at a state laboratory. If the result comes back as non-negative, the samples are then sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be tested again to identify a specific strain of bird flu. The WSDA then takes steps to immediately eradicate the virus.

Bird flu can spread to humans, but some people can have minor or no symptoms at all. More severe symptoms include fever, conjunctivitis, diarrhea and nausea. The WSDA asked people who keep chickens and other birds to secure their coups and shelters to make sure wild birds can’t get inside and spread the virus.

Contributing: Luke Duecy, KIRO Newsradio

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.