Deceased Florida eaglets test positive for H5N1 bird flu

Yahoo

30-01-2025

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A pair of eaglets that recently died in Florida tested positive for the bird flu, according to researchers.
Eaglets E24 & E25, which were featured on Dick Pritchett Real Estate's Southwest Florida Eagle Cam, both died within a day of each other.
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According to the Eagle Cam, E24 had seizures for a few minutes before it suddenly died Monday. While E25 appeared healthy when researchers came to remove its sibling's remains, the remaining eaglet later had seizures and died Tuesday morning after it fell out of the nest.
'This is uncharted territory for our cameras and viewers,' a social media post said.
In a Thursday press conference, officials from the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife, also known as CROW, said a necropsy revealed that both eaglets tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as HPAI or bird flu.
While bird flu is typically associated with poultry species, wild birds are highly vulnerable to bird flu.
'The current strain of avian influenza is a highly pathogenic form of the H5N1 virus, which has caused devastating losses in the birds it affects,' Dr. Jessica Comolli said. 'While some birds, such as waterfowl, can shed the virus while remaining asymptomatic, other species, such as birds of prey, are highly susceptible and can succumb to the disease rapidly, as we unfortunately witnessed with the eaglets in this nest.'
Comolli said HPAI can be spread through feces or infected objects, and it appears that the eaglets contracted the disease by eating an infected bird.
'We know that these results are worrisome for all of you and are understandably concerned for the parents,' Comolli said.
The symptoms of HPAI in bird species are typically weakness, difficulty breathing, lack of appetite, an inability to fly or stand, and neurological symptoms like tremors and seizures.
Currently, CROW does not have permission to capture the parents, M15 or F23, for observation due to the danger it would pose to the animals while they are still flying.
'Yesterday they were seen many feet in the air,' Comolli said.
If either of the parents show signs of bird flu infection, CROW asked that you call them at 239-322-5068 or the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-3922.
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