Vaccine gets emergency approval as ‘highly contagious’ virus sweeps through flocks of species on the brink of extinction
Gabrielle Canon and agencies
Wed 17 May 2023
A new vaccine has been granted emergency approval to protect California condors from a deadly strain of avian influenza, federal officials said this week, amid attempts to pull the endangered species back from the brink of extinction.
The emergency action underscores an outbreak that has alarmed the conservation community, which fears that condors, a vulnerable species that has spent decades in recovery, could be dealt a devastating blow. After first being detected in a deceased condor in late March, the illness has swept through the small flock of wild birds, which are closely monitored by agencies in the south-west. So far 21 condors have died, impacting eight breeding pairs, according to a statement issued by the US Fish and Wildlife service.
Top-flight recovery: the inspiring comeback of the California condor
The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI, is a virus that has been described as “highly contagious” by the agency. An April statement confirming deaths of the first infected condors in early April said the virus can spread quickly though “bird-to-bird contact, environmental contamination with fecal material, and via exposed clothing, shoes and vehicles”.
Several condors remain in the care of experts, including a newly hatched chick whose egg was pulled from its contaminated nest before its mother succumbed to the disease. Officials and rescue workers remain hopeful that the orphaned baby, now being nurtured with the help of a plush condor at the Liberty Wildlife facility in Phoenix, Arizona, can soon be returned to the wild. For now the chick is nestled among blankets and its stuffed surrogate, awaiting placement with foster parents at the Peregrine Fund’s captive breeding facility.
A new vaccine has been granted emergency approval to protect California condors from a deadly strain of avian influenza, federal officials said this week, amid attempts to pull the endangered species back from the brink of extinction.
The emergency action underscores an outbreak that has alarmed the conservation community, which fears that condors, a vulnerable species that has spent decades in recovery, could be dealt a devastating blow. After first being detected in a deceased condor in late March, the illness has swept through the small flock of wild birds, which are closely monitored by agencies in the south-west. So far 21 condors have died, impacting eight breeding pairs, according to a statement issued by the US Fish and Wildlife service.
Top-flight recovery: the inspiring comeback of the California condor
The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI, is a virus that has been described as “highly contagious” by the agency. An April statement confirming deaths of the first infected condors in early April said the virus can spread quickly though “bird-to-bird contact, environmental contamination with fecal material, and via exposed clothing, shoes and vehicles”.
Several condors remain in the care of experts, including a newly hatched chick whose egg was pulled from its contaminated nest before its mother succumbed to the disease. Officials and rescue workers remain hopeful that the orphaned baby, now being nurtured with the help of a plush condor at the Liberty Wildlife facility in Phoenix, Arizona, can soon be returned to the wild. For now the chick is nestled among blankets and its stuffed surrogate, awaiting placement with foster parents at the Peregrine Fund’s captive breeding facility.
Despite it being limited to one flock in Arizona, conservation groups are concerned that the deadly illness has already taken a devastating toll on the delicate condor population. “In a matter of weeks, this event has set our recovery effort back a decade or more,” the Peregrine Fund, an organization dedicated to protecting birds of prey and a key federal partner in restoring and rehabilitating California condors to the wild, wrote in a late-April update on the HPAI impact on condors, adding that the new threat posed by avian flu “highlights the need to address preventable and manageable threats, and rely even more heavily on proven strategies such as captive breeding to increase the wild population”.
Once abundant in the skies across their western range, which spans from the Pacific north-west to Baja California, Mexico, only a few hundred of these iconic and enormous vultures remain in the wild even after decades of dedicated breeding and conservation efforts.
The fast-spreading disease is one of several threats condors have faced since populations were first decimated by hunting during the California gold rush, including dangers posed by the toxic DDT pesticide and lead poisoning from ammunition lodged in scavenged carcasses. Recovery has been slow. Condors don’t mate until they reach maturity at around eight years old, and females only produce a single egg every two years.
This dangerous strain of avian flu has rapidly spread across the US, killing millions of domestic and wild birds since it arrived in North America at the end of 2021. Though the virus is not considered a high risk to humans, it’s been among the most devastating outbreaks for birds in the country’s history. Roughly 58 million commercial poultry have had to be euthanized in attempts to slow the spread of the disease, which has also claimed the lives of hundreds of bald eagles and been detected in more than 6,700 wild birds, a figure widely considered to be underestimated.
While the emergency-use approval by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is limited to California condors, the agency is continuing work to develop options for other types of birds. Before administering it to condors, a pilot study has been initiated to test the vaccine on North American vultures – “a similar species” – to ensure there are no adverse effects.
“APHIS approved this emergency vaccination of the condors because these birds are critically endangered, closely monitored, and their population is very small which allows close monitoring of the vaccine to ensure it is administered only to the approved population,” the agency said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Along with the hopeful announcement that a vaccine may soon be ready to administer, efforts to isolate infected birds have been successful. Infections among the Arizona flock where the virus was found are holding steady.
“Our field teams have not detected any additional compromised California condors in northern Arizona since April 11,” the Peregrin Fund posted in an update this week, adding that four birds under its care are showing signs of recovery. “The Peregrine Fund’s captive breeding program is also in full swing, and new life is hatching,” it added. “Of 18 eggs laid, nine young have hatched and a new season for the recovery effort begins.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting
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