(WWJ) – Three fox kits have died from highly pathogenic avian influenza in three Metro Detroit Counties, the Michigan DNR announced Thursday.
They were the state’s first confirmed cases of the HPAI, also referred to as the bird flu, in wild mammals.
DNR officials say the young fox kits, collected between April 1-14, came from separate dens in Lapeer, Macomb and St. Clair Counties.
The DNR had received a report from a wildlife rehabilitator in Southeast Michigan about the kits exhibiting neurologic signs of the bird flu before they died.
Officials say the kits were seen circling, tremoring and seizing.
Two of the three died within hours after the rehabilitator took them in, while the other appeared to respond to supportive therapy, but then died in care.
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An additional kit that was a sibling of the Macomb County kit did survive, but it developed blindness, making her non-releasable, the DNR said. She will be housed at a local nature center, the DNR said.
The HPAI is a virus known to affect birds throughout North America, with detected cases in backyard flocks and commercial poultry facilities in 34 states and in wild birds in 35 states, according to the DNR.
There have been confirmed cases in 69 wild birds in Michigan, with the outbreak continuing to spread across the continent.
The virus is highly contagious and birds are especially vulnerable. The viral strain can also affect waterfowl, raptors and scavengers (like turkey vultures, eagles and crows).
Updates on the current status of the virus in Michigan can be found at Michigan.gov/BirdFlu.