Utilization of a Raptor Rehabilitation Center for Longitudinal Disease Surveillance Using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Testing and Serology During the Ongoing Outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus in Minnesota, USA (2022-2024)

Wildlife rehabilitation facilities provide opportunities to collect disease epidemiology data from birds admitted straight from the wild. Minnesota (USA) avian populations were substantially impacted by the arrival of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI; strain EA/AM 2.3.4.4 H5N1) to the region in March of 2022. The Raptor Center (TRC) at the University of Minnesota enacted intensive biosecurity and testing procedures in order to safely continue admitting sick birds during the HPAI outbreak, while simultaneously collecting extensive data on HPAI in raptors.

Since March of 2022, TRC has tested every wild raptor admitted to the hospital utilizing influenza A matrix reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing from oropharyngeal/cloacal swabs. As of September 2024, 2409 wild raptors have been tested and 225 (9.3%) have been confirmed HPAI positive. The majority of positive birds (215 individuals representing 12 species) were admitted between March and December, 2022. During this two year period, no transmission was observed in TRC but surveillance of incoming raptors mirrored what was seen in wild bird surveillance and the poultry industry. Concurrently, TRC has an ongoing serosurveillance study which has informed our understanding of resilience among raptor populations, with bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in particular showing a high rate of seropositivity.

Wildlife rehabilitation presents a unique opportunity to better understand impacts of outbreaks on wildlife populations by augmenting free-ranging outbreak data with enhanced surveillance and sampling.

Kelsey Rayment, DVM, The Raptor Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota David Stallknecht, PhD, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia Elizabeth Kurimo-Beechuk, MS, LVT, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia Carol Cardona, DVM, PhD, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota Kristelle Mendoza, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota Justin Brown, DVM, PhD, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University Dana Franzen-Klein, DVM, MS, The Raptor Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota

Notable outbreaks, field and molecular epidemiology, and surveillance in wild birds