A recent outbreak of a bird flu on a quail farm in the Philippines, for example, resulted in the culling of 17,000 quail to stop the spread.īird flu strains live in a bird's gut and become exposed in fecal matter. One of the most well-known examples of this is with avian influenza. Wild birds do also pass diseases to farm animals and vice versa, and that can pose the more indirect threat to human health. And if you see a dead bird, stay away from it and don’t touch it, he says (though you may consider reporting it to your state or local wildlife agency, which can come to remove it and may be tracking dead animal clusters). That’s because birds can carry some viral, bacterial, or fungal pathogens that cause human illness-think Salmonella or West Nile Virus. But if you are directly handling a bird or in contact with its excretions such as feces or saliva (that includes filling bird feeders), he advises observing common hygiene practices, including not touching your face and washing your hands right after. If you want to admire the birds from afar in your backyard or your local park, you don’t have to worry about contagion. Karel Schat, professor emeritus of avian virology at Cornell University, says that birds generally pose a “very limited threat to humans,” at least not directly.
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Still, this pandemic understandably provokes fear about wildlife diseases and so provides an opportunity to clear up confusion surrounding the question, “can birds get you sick?” Researchers believe it likely came from bats.
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COVID-19, the viral disease gripping the globe, is not bird-related.