Rising to the Challenges of Deadly Bird Flu in 2022

Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect against Bird Flu, Bird Rescue staff exams a Brown Pelican patient in a special quarantine area at the Los Angeles center. Photo by Ariana Gastelum – International Bird Rescue

Dear Bird Rescue Supporter:

Can you imagine a world without birds?

Watch this video of a Canada Goose with symptoms of Avian Influenza.

The threat to wild birds is real: Bird Flu, known to the scientific community as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), has emerged in 2022 as a serious and deadly threat to birds in a changing world. To respond to this growing crisis, Bird Rescue made significant changes to its intake procedures. More than 75 birds have been identified thus far – before entering our California wildlife centers – as positive for HPAI, saving hundreds in the wild who would have been exposed.

This new protocol is expensive and time-consuming Thankfully, our staff and volunteers have risen to the challenge. More than 3,400 birds were treated this year without an outbreak inside our centers. Without the generous public support this work would not have been possible As this deadly disease spreads, the road ahead remains uncertain.

If you have donated, we appreciate your support! If you haven’t yet given, please consider giving now: https://www.birdrescue.org/donate/

Thank you for giving a voice to birds,

The Bird Rescue Team

P.S. For more information about Avian Influenza read this recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle.