Wildlife rehabs, zoos take precautions after deadly bird flu outbreak pops up in Tampa Bay

TAMPA, Fla. - A highly pathogenic Avian Influenza strain has been spreading in wild birds across Florida since January. The deadly bird flu outbreak has now been confirmed in the Tampa Bay area prompting wildlife rehabs and zoos to take precautions.

Officials at ZooTampa have been keeping a close eye on the avian influenza outbreak in the state. The Eurasian H5 strain of bird flu was first detected in Palm Beach County in January, and is now sickening wild birds in Tampa Bay.

"It is very serious, it causes sudden death. So obviously nothing we could do about that if we saw that in one of our birds, and it can also make them very sick where they would require a lot of treatment," explained Dr. Cynthia Stringfield, senior vice president of Animal Health, Conservation and Education at ZooTampa.

The zoo was ready, taking action immediately after learning there was a confirmed bird flu case in Hillsborough County. The preventative measures are to protect the 319 birds the zoo cares for.

RELATED: Zoos move birds indoors as avian flu spreads in North America

"We just took it group by group, and literally individually assessed the risk for every individual bird here. So the ones that were at higher risk we’re taking more precautions with. The ones that are in pretty good shape, like the lorikeets, they're staying put," Stringfield said.

The virus has killed dozens of wild birds including ducks, brown pelicans, blue herons, bald eagles and black vultures, all birds that also nest and gather on zoo property. Some aviaries are temporarily closed, other exhibits have scaled back interaction with guests or the birds are spending limited time outside, and a few species had to be completely removed from their habitats.

"The black vultures were really hanging out in that open flamingo habitat, so our flamingos, we've also moved inside," said Stringfield.

So far, only wild birds here in the Sunshine State have been infected with avian influenza. Wildlife centers across the state have also stopped taking injured and sick birds.

People should avoid handling sick or dead birds, and instead report those sightings to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"We spent a lot of time trying to find that happy medium of still having our birds be able to be with people but also not put them at high risk," Stringfield said.

READ: ZooTampa at Lowry Park begins vaccinating animals against COVID-19

Florida is one of 34 states where the bird flu has been detected in wild birds, but the virus is also threatening commercial poultry and backyard chickens, infecting more than 33,000,000 birds nationwide according to the USDA.

So far there have been no human infections here in the United States.