Plymouth, Massachusetts, officials alerted the public on Sunday that more than 60 birds found dead at Billington Sea are suspected to have died of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu.
On Sunday morning, members of the Clean Harbor waste management who were contracted by the state Department of Environmental Protection, as well as state officials, responded to Billington Sea to remove numerous geese, swans and other dead wildlife from the pond.
The day before, the state ornithologist told town officials that a dead goose removed from Plymouth was “highly suspected” of having avian influenza, or bird flu.
Since there is only one lab in the U.S. that can officially confirm a positive bird flu case, it could take up to a week for a definitive answer, officials said.
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(REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File)
Still, state officials say they will begin testing the removed birds from Billington Sea to determine their official cause of death.
State and local officials advised the public to avoid contact with sick or dead wild birds and other animals that could be infected with avian influenza viruses, and to wear protective equipment if handling wild animals cannot be avoided.
Those who raise poultry should also take precautions as bird flu can spread through direct contact between birds.
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A pair of influenza A (H5N1) virions, a type of bird flu virus (Cynthia Goldsmith, Jackie Katz/CDC via AP/File)
“Poultry owners should keep their birds away from wild waterfowl, limit the number of people that have access to your flock, and if you share equipment with other bird owners, clean and disinfect between locations,” Plymouth Public Health Director Karen Keane said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says handling infected birds is unlikely to lead to illness in people. However, there have been 67 human cases of bird flu since 2022, with 66 of those cases happening in 2024.
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In fact, safety precautions continue to ramp up as cases of bird flu continue to surface across the U.S.
On Thursday, the CDC announced its recommendation to test hospitalized influenza A patients more quickly and thoroughly to distinguish between seasonal flu and bird flu.
The accelerated “subtyping” of flu A in hospitalized patients is in response to “sporadic human infections” of avian flu, the CDC wrote in a press release.
The goal is to prevent delays in identifying bird flu infections and promote better patient care, “timely infection control” and case investigation, the agency stated.
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These delays are more likely to happen during the flu season due to high patient volumes, according to the CDC.
Fox News Digital’s Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.