A bald eagle on Long Island with suspected avian flu was euthanized and wildlife experts fear this is a sign of an outbreak to come.
The eagle was recovered by wildlife rescuers in Southaven Park in Shirley. Karen Hill Maloney called Raymond Kopeck, a trained falconer, to assist.
"It was up in the tree squawking a bit and as we approached it tried to fly away," said Kopeck. "But when it did, it immediately crashed to the ground, it couldn’t fly.”
It took more than two hours for them to get the eagle into a vehicle and drove it to the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center, where director Chris Strub knew the bird was in trouble.
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"From the screechy voice, to the seizures he was having," Strub said, "we knew this was an advanced infection and he was not going to pull through."
The eagle had to be euthanized. Strub says this is the sixth bird that has been brought to the center with signs of Avian flu. Tests are pending to confirm that is what the eagle died from.
"This particular strain is a lot more virulent for birds so they can catch it from each other a lot more easily," said Strub, "Which means if we have suspected cases in the wild we just have to be very vigilant."
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Strub fears he is witnessing the start of a wave of flu cases, which could be a problem for the multitude of birds he helps here at the sanctuary.
The Department of Environmental Conservation told NBC New York in a statement that they are "working cooperatively with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the agencies leading the joint Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) incident response, as well as the State Department of Health and Cornell University."
There is a widespread highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak across North America in wild and domestic birds. It started in late 2021.
Here is a current list of cases in Suffolk County:
| Type of Bird: | HPAI confirmations Suffolk County, 2022-2023: |
| Bald eagle | 2 |
| Snow goose | 1 |
| Common loon | 1 |
| Sanderling | 2 |
| Mute Swan | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 |
| Herring Gull | 1 |
| Ring-necked pheasant | 4 (game farm secapes |
| Great Horned Owl | 3 |
| Great Black-Backed Gull | 1 |
Here are the numbers for Nassau County:
| Type of Bird: | HPAI confirmations in adjacent Nassau County, 2022-2023: |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 |
| Black Skimmer | 1 |
| Canada Goose | 3 |
| Mute Swan | 1 |
“For chickens this strain is incredibly deadly, they basically have no chance,” said Strub. “If they catch it, it will pass through the whole flock.”
DEC requests the public report sick or dead waterfowl, shorebirds, gulls and raptors to a local Regional office so that occurrences to HPAI could be tracked.
