Bird Flu: The wildlife authorities in Maharashtra have issued a state-wide red alert as three tigers and a sub-adult leopard have died after contracting the highly pathogenic avian flu H5N1 virus at Gorewada Rescue Centre in Nagpur.
Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects poultry and wild birds, but can occasionally be transmitted to mammals.
Felines, including domestic animals as well as wild cats such as tigers and mountain lions, are particularly sensitive to avian influenza, and care should be taken to not expose these animals to the virus, says the latest American Veterinary Medical Association report.
The epizootic of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) — more specifically avian influenza type A (H5N1) — was initially detected in wild birds in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, in December 2021. Since then, it has been spreading globally among poultry birds, dairy farm animals, and other wild birds. Health officials across the globe have been monitoring the march of the H5N1 virus — the clade 2.3.4.4b viruses — as it can jump to new animals, including humans.
As far as the cases of H5N1 in animals in India is concerned, the Nagpur zoo incident is the first instance when the virus has taken such a substantial wildlife toll, particularly in captivity.
A red alert has been sounded across Maharashtra’s zoos, and rescue and transit centres.
According to a report in the Times Of India (TOI), the animals in the Nagpur (Gorewada) Rescue Centre died last week and their samples were sent to ICAR-the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal. Gorewada project divisional manager S.S. Bhagwat told TOI that the tests in Bhopal laboratory reported positive for the presence of the H5N1 virus.
Bhagwat said these animals were shifted to the centre from Chandrapur after human-wildlife conflict instances in December. They started showing symptoms of avian flu within a week.
The authorities at Gorewada Rescue Centre say they have stepped up the containment protocol. Not only have the enclosures housing the big cats been disinfected and treated with fire blowers, the facility has been declared closed for visitors. Employees and caretakers have undergone screening, and animal keepers are using PPE kits, Bhagwat told TOI, playing down any cause for concern.
Though the avian flu primarily targets birds, a statement from the Wildlife Research and Training Centre, Gorewada, said that wild carnivores (animals) too can get infected through contact with infected birds or a contaminated environment. “Avian influenza outbreaks in wild carnivores have been linked to consumption of infected prey or raw meat,” it stated.
A 2004 study published by the Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, suggests that H5N1 is more dangerous to felids (felines, animals from big and small cat families), including tigers, leopards, and domestic cats, than other flu viruses, posing a risk to endangered species.
Additionally, if felids excrete more of the virus for longer periods, their role in the spread of avian influenza to humans and poultry needs to be reassessed, the study stated.
Wild Cats In Peril Across The Globe
In December, it was reported that bird flu has been on the rise in the US’ Washington state, with one sanctuary hit particularly hard. The Wild Felid Advocacy Center reported that 20 big cats – more than half of the facility’s population – had died over the course of weeks, CNN reported.
The 20 animals included five African servals, four bobcats, four cougars, two Canada Lynxes, and one Amur-Bengal tiger mix.
The Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington announced the deaths on 21 December through Facebook.
AFP reported in October 2024 that 47 tigers, three lions and a panther had died in zoos in South Vietnam due to the H5N1 bird flu virus.
The World Health Organization reports a rise in deadly H5N1 outbreaks among mammals since 2022. In humans, H5N1 infections can range from mild to severe and may sometimes be fatal.
The author is a senior independent journalist.