With the pervasiveness of bird flu in wild bird populations, Lake County health officials have advised caution as dead birds continue to appear along the shores of Lake Michigan and around inland lakes.
While predictions are uncertain, state officials expect at least short-term declines in wild bird populations, including among the hundreds of bird species that migrate through Lake County each year.
Mike Adam, deputy director of Lake County’s Environmental Health Department, said officials have received numerous reports of dead birds, primarily waterfowl, around the county. While they’ve been following Illinois Department of Natural Resources guidelines for reporting cases of five or more dead birds, “at this point we’re kind of under the assumption that bird flu is around here.”
“We kind of have to assume if we see dead birds, bird flu is the reason,” he said.
Residents who spot dead birds along the shore or around inland lakes should make the same assumption, Adam said, and practice caution. He advised people to keep themselves and their pets away from any dead birds they find.
“We don’t know for sure, but we’re going to assume that it may be a case of bird flu, so they should not let their animals go up to it, or pick it up or anything like that,” he said.
Despite the need for caution, Adam emphasized the risks are still very low for humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are no known cases of person-to-person spread of bird flu, and there have only been 70 human cases of bird flu and one death in the U.S.
“The risk to humans is still low, but there’s obviously concern for if this does eventually have some mutations that it would be able to be transmitted to people and then person-to-person,” Adam said. “We’re just telling you to be cautious.”
Although the news has been full of reports about poultry farms culling their chickens and dead birds washing up on shores, Adam said it is time “to be cautious,” but not panic.
If anybody has been handling a bird or sick bird and begins exhibiting symptoms of any kind of flu, he said they should contact their physician, doctor, or veterinarian and explain the situation.
While Lake County doesn’t have any large poultry farms that could be at risk, it sees significant bird migrations, with millions of birds from hundreds of species coming through Lake and Cook counties according to an IDNR spokesperson.
Those birds, following Lake Michigan’s shoreline, include raptors, waterfowl, gulls, terns and shorebirds. The shoreline is considered, “one of the most important flyways for migrant songbirds” in the country.
Although migration seasons vary by species and even weather conditions, the next major migration event, in April and May, is quickly approaching. What the impact of bird flu could be on these populations is “difficult to precisely predict” as the virus evolves, the spokesperson said, but the IDNR predicts short-term declines in bird species most impacted by highly pathogenic avian influenza.
“However, most of those bird species have high reproductive rates, and their populations could rebound quite quickly,” the spokesperson said.
For example, while Canadian geese have made up the largest portion of reported mortalities in northern Illinois, they are “still quite numerous.” On the other hand, raptors, or birds of prey, have lower reproductive rates and could take longer to recover.
The exact extent of the impact could take time to be seen in waterfowl species, many of which nest “north of us,” the spokesperson said, some as far north as the Arctic Circle.
“The reductions may be felt on their nesting grounds, and we might not see a difference until they and their offspring migrate back to Illinois,” the spokesperson said.
Numerous state organizations monitoring bird-flu deaths in waterfowl throughout Illinois — including the Department of Public Health, Department of Aging and the IDNR — have put out releases advising the public to not handle or attempt to capture waterfowl or other wild birds displaying signs of illness, and to keep animals, dogs and other pets away from bird carcasses.
If a bird carcass needs to be disposed of, the spokesperson said, people should follow IDPH’s guidelines available online that advise using disposable waterproof gloves, plastic bags, safety goggles, an N95 mask and a secure trash can.