'The environment cannot be sterilized;' state veterinarian on bird flu found in Rhode Island | ABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management held a briefing Friday evening after notifying the public that bird flu was detected in a domestic flock in the state.

State Veterinarian Scott Marshall said that bird flu cases typically peak in late fall, early winter, and the spring as a result of bird migratory patterns.

Marshall added that the USDA is monitoring the genetic makeup of the virus to see if it mutates a resistance to antivirals.

“It’s the same advice your mother taught you: the environment cannot be sterilized” Marshall said. “This virus is just one of the potential pathogens you might run into in the environment. Wash your hands before you eat and that’s the best advice I can give.”

He added that the CDC considers the human risk to be low, though domestic cats that eat poultry and dogs that come into contact with dead birds are at risk of the virus.

“Most domestic cats that get affected are going to die, so if you feed poultry products to your pets, you should definitely cook it and render it safe,” Marshall said. “The other way animals will likely get exposed is if you’re walking your dog on the beach and it comes across a dead seagull or a dead duck. so please walk your dogs on a leash and don’t let them have any contact with animals and they’ll be fine.”

RIDEM said that it euthanized 40 birds that were part of a noncommercial flock in order to “minimize their suffering from the infection and prevent the spread of the disease to other birds.”

The department added that the disease was last detected in a noncommercial backyard flock in 2022, and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the public health risk for H5N1 to be low.