The rash of cases on the island is the first H5N1 event in a marine environment in Washington, Haman said. The department has devoted a lot of resources to cleaning it up, in part because of a fear that the disease could spread to other animals, like seals.
In Peru, H5N1 killed thousands of sea lions earlier this year. Seal deaths in Maine were also linked to the bird flu.
But so far in Washington, there are no confirmed cases in marine mammals, Haman said. The department has tested various mammals in Washington, and so far only raccoons and bobcats have tested positive.
If the disease does jump to humans, the mortality rate can be more than 50%. And if bird flu and human flu combine, it could trigger a pandemic. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was caused by a similar scenario.
Moving forward, the department will continue to track the spread of the disease. The department did receive one-time funding for the next two years to keep up surveillance efforts and will likely ask the Legislature for more funding.
There aren’t many preventative steps that can protect birds and other animals, Haman said, especially as the H5N1 vaccine isn’t widely available for wildlife.
For now, she said state officials will continue to collect data on where and how the disease is spreading.
“Unfortunately, H5N1 does not seem to be going away,” she said.