The Zoo Is Prepared for the Flu

This past year you couldn’t look at the news without reading about the recent Ebola virus outbreak. However, just a few years ago, the same could be said for bird flu. And as Ebola recedes from the news, bird flu has unfortunately made a resurgence with the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirming the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds in Washington and Oregon.

There’s no immediate public health concern regarding these particular strains of avian influenza because they’ve been found in other parts of the world and haven’t caused any human infection to date. However, it’s still a concern for our rare and endangered birds at the zoo.

Zoo species such as Bali mynahs, which are critically endangered in the wild, are also vulnerable to outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Luckily, Lincoln Park Zoo has been preparing for this scenario since bird flu first made headlines years ago. Understanding that illnesses like bird flu could have a major impact on zoo-housed animals, Lincoln Park Zoo worked with the USDA and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to create the Zoo Animal Health Network.

The Zoo Animal Health Network connects the zoo community with local, state and national agencies that would handle disasters like a highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak. Projects within the initiative include identifying, developing and organizing best practices and contingency plans for various scenarios and training the zoo community for potential disease outbreaks.

We’ve developed a surveillance and preparedness program called the Avian Influenza Surveillance System that tests zoo wildlife for both low-pathogenic and highly pathogenic avian influenza. Although this system was designed for bird flu, it could be modified for other potentially devastating diseases.

The Avian Influenza Surveillance System tests zoo wildlife like cinereous vultures for low-pathogenic and highly pathogenic avian influenza--a framework that could be adopted for other diseases in the need arose.

As avian influenza makes headlines once again, the zoo is ready with an active surveillance protocol and an Outbreak Management Plan to assist state and federal regulatory officials. So while we’d certainly prefer to avoid it, if an outbreak of avian influenza—or any other super disease—ever occurs on zoo grounds, we’ll be ready!

Mary Beth Manjerovic

Mary Beth Manjerovic, Ph.D., is a Wildlife Disease Ecologist at Lincoln Park Zoo’s Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology and Urban Wildlife Institute.