An Alaskan polar bear is the first of its kind to die from bird flu – as the highly pathogenic bird flu continues to spread around the world.
The polar bear, considered endangered on the endangered species list, was found dead in October near Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost community in the United States.
On December 6, the Alaska state veterinarian confirmed that the bear had died of bird flu – the world's first recorded fatal case of its kind.
Dr. Bob Gerlach, Alaska's state veterinarian, told the Alaska Beacon that this case has been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health.
“This is the first reported polar bear case ever,” Gerlach said.
Alaska state veterinarian confirms polar bear has died of bird flu – world's first fatal case of its kind (stock image)
The polar bear, considered threatened on the endangered species list, was found dead in October near Utqiagvik, Alaska (pictured), the northernmost community in the United States
He said polar bears usually eat seals, but it's likely this bear contracted the virus by eating a dead bird.
Gerlach noted that because of the environment and nature of the disease, the polar bear did not have to directly eat an infected bird to become ill.
“If a bird dies from it, especially if it is kept in a cold environment, the virus can remain in the environment for a while,” he said.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the most recent avian influenza outbreak reached North America in December 2021 in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Subsequently, the HPAI EA H5 and EA H5N1 viruses were confirmed in wild birds, backyard flocks, commercial poultry facilities, and wild mammals in both Canada and the United States.
According to the CDC, while the threat to human health remains low at this time, it is affecting flocks of wild birds and poultry around the world.
Highly pathogenic bird flu causes severe illness and high mortality in infected birds.
In September, the United States Department of Agriculture imposed restrictions on imports of poultry from France, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway as the risk of avian influenza being introduced into the United States increased.
The USDA, which considers the start of this latest outbreak to be February 8, 2022, has detected bird flu in a total of 1,059 poultry flocks in 47 states
Last winter, bird flu caused egg prices to rise and there are fears that “eggflation” could return
The USDA, which considers the start of this latest outbreak to be February 8, 2022, has detected avian influenza in a total of 1,059 poultry flocks in 47 states as of January 1, 2024 – 451 flocks were commercial and 608 flocks were backyard poultry.
In their latest wild bird data released on December 26, the total detections since January 1, 2022 in wild birds is 8,547.
The USDA reported several additional detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza in mammals between 2022 and 2023, including seals, skunks, mountain lions, red foxes, raccoons and even a bottlenose dolphin.
Last winter, with the worst avian flu outbreak in years and inflated feed and fuel costs for farmers, we saw prices for a dozen rise twice over $5 for the first time.
Prices have fallen steadily since then, but it appears that “eggflation” has returned to the US, according to a Datasembly analysis for , as egg prices rose 11.4 percent in November.