Avian influenza poses a serious threat to birds, both in the wild and under human care. In the later cases, we tend to worry about it mostly in the poultry industry, where huge numbers of birds are housed together in close quarters, and disease can spread like wildfire. It is no less of a concern, however, for zoo birds, which could potentially catch the disease from wild birds flitting in and out of their enclosures. Currently, the disease has been documented in the eastern US, so facilities are taking precautions.
The North Carolina Zoo, for instance, has closed its aviary to the public. Sylvan Heights Bird Park has gone a step further and shut down the whole facility temporarily. Other zoos have implemented travel restrictions on staff or are limiting which keepers have access to potentially vulnerable birds. Keeping animals healthy takes constant vigilance and adjusting to changing circumstances. I'm glad that so many of my colleagues are up to the task.
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