Despite the arrival of avian influenza in Pennsylvania, there is no evidence the state's wild turkeys are infected a week before the one-day junior and mentored youth gobbler hunt April 23, and two weeks prior to the monthlong season that begins April 30.
Since the discovery weeks ago of a bald eagle found dead in Chester County from highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI has been confirmed in other birds in Pennsylvania's south-central and northwestern counties. It can infect domestic and wild birds, including Eastern wild turkeys.
Known to have jumped to humans years ago in Asia, HPAI is currently "an animal health issue" that poses minimal risk to humans and health of the general public, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. People who handle infected birds without gloves and masks are at a higher risk, including spring gobbler hunters, but no human cases related to this avian influenza virus have been detected or reported in the United States.
