Wildlife officials say the red fox and eagles were most likely feeding on birds that had died from the H5N1 avian influenza.
The new strain of bird flu that arrived in Alaska with the spring migration has now been detected in a fox that died in the Aleutian Islands.
The H5N1 bird flu has caused the deaths of millions of poultry in the Lower 48, as well as wild birds and some foxes there.. It was found in a non-commercial flock of chickens and ducks in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. But so far, wildlife officials say, it has not impacted domestic mammals in Alaska, and this strain and previous strains have not proven to be a significant health concern for humans or domesticated dogs and cats.
“If there is a dead bird or dead animal there, we don’t know what they died from,” Gerlach said. “If it’s not influenza that’s transferred, it could be either bacteria or maybe another virus that is transferable, and the most common ones we see are salmonella and E. coli. And then obviously those can be transferred to people, too.”
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