PROVINCETOWN — Preliminary test results on the great black-backed gull carcasses found on the harbor beach are consistent with avian influenza, confirming suspicions reported in the Independent last week.
MassWildlife coordinated the effort to collect fresh carcasses for sampling on Feb. 5.
Kaitlin Sawatzki, a postdoctoral scholar and the animal surveillance coordinator at Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine’s Runstadler Lab, tested the samples on Feb. 9. The Runstadler Lab conducts preliminary avian influenza testing for wildlife clinics across the Cape.
When tests suggest the presence of the H5N1 virus, the lab submits the samples to the federal National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. Getting further confirmation from the federal lab will probably take a while. Researchers are still awaiting word on “putative positive” test samples sent by the Runstadler Lab to the NVSL as early as November. Only after confirmation of those results will the detections appear on the USDA’s wild bird HPAI database.
Outer Cape residents should continue to avoid direct contact with dead or sick wild birds, and report suspected cases to Mass Wildlife.
If infection in a backyard poultry flock is suspected, the owners should report instead to the Mass. Dept. of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) through its poultry disease reporting form; they can expect to be contacted by Div. of Animal Health staff. MDAR and the USDA encourage domestic poultry owners to take measures against H5N1 by preventing all contact with wild birds and avoiding exposure to droppings and feathers, both of which can carry viral material.
Visit the USDA’s Defend the Flock Resource Center for more information.
