Avian Influenza Research

Avian influenza is a global viral disease that is threatening wildlife, agriculture, and human health. Avian influenza viruses occur naturally in wild birds such as ducks, geese, swans, and gulls. The traditional view was that avian influenza viruses generally do not cause illness in wild birds, but they can become highly pathogenic, causing illness and death in backyard birds and commercial poultry. But during this current outbreak, highly pathogenic avian influenza has resulted in illness and death in wild birds and mammals in addition to infecting dairy cattle and other food animals

The USGS conducts research on avian influenza to understand its effects on wild bird populations and ecosystems. Leveraging ecological, genomic, and veterinary diagnostic data, USGS supports USDA’s national HPAI surveillance in wild birds and investigates the implications for wildlife health and biodiversity. The USGS Avian Influenza Science Team provides objective and rigorous scientific data for inferring: 

1. the utility of new methods to detect and characterize AIVs including those maintained in wildlife and the environment, 
2. impacts of HPAI to wildlife, 
3. spatiotemporal patterns of wildlife host and avian influenza virus dispersal, (iv) the occurrence and persistence of AIVs in the environment, 
4. how HPAI in wildlife influences consumptive and non-consumptive utilization of wildlife, (vi) how new tools and scientific methods may promote sound natural resource management decisions for HPAI in wildlife, particularly species of conservation concern, and 
5. the combined effects of HPAI and other stressors on ecosystem health and resiliency.

This research is crucial for informing wildlife management practices and public health policies, as avian influenza can also impact domestic poultry and pose risks to human health.

Following are a few significant contributions USGS science has made towards a better understanding of highly pathogenic avian influenza.