The new, alarming bird flu spreading among American birds may be here to stay

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“This epidemic in wild birds is much more severe than what we saw in 2014/2015,” states David Stallknecht avian influenza researcher at the University of Georgia. “Just a few more birds seem to be affected.”

The brunt of the damage is being done to waterfowl and raptors who eat their dead bodies.

More than 1000 lesser scaup ducks in Florida have died from the virus. About 50 Canadian geese were killed in New Hampshire. Wildlife experts in the Great Plains states have witnessed mass deaths of snow geese.

Richards says that there are a number of other species such as black vultures, bald eagles, and other scavenging animals, which were probably infected from eating the carcasses of waterfowl.

It is still unknown how severe this virus will affect American bird species.

Richards says that Israel lost approximately 8,000 birds in the span of two weeks when the virus struck an area where 40,000 common cranes were gathering for winter. When you consider that 20% of a particular wild bird population is at risk, it’s quite significant.