Hi Everyone, I'm wearing my official WRC hat for this email. I felt it is important that we communicate our HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) protocols directly with you, people who are passionate about birds.
We've spent the past weeks consulting with federal agencies and other wildlife hospitals. Due to the high path nature of the virus, lack of a quick test and inability to quarantine birds in individual rooms with separate air systems, we've made the grave decision to not admit susceptible species for rehabilitative treatment. This includes all species of ducks/diving birds, pelicans, raptors, gulls, tundra swans and great blue herons. Unfortunately there is no way for us to safely treat them, and quarantining them is not an option due to scale (you cannot "quarantine" birds together). Keeping the virus out of the building will hopefully prevent us from being closed by an agency for 3-6 weeks and/or having to cull other avian patients. During our operating hours (9am-6pm daily) we can offer humane euthanasia to end suffering if you want to bring us injured/sick, or orphaned susceptible birds who will not survive on their own. We have protocols and signage in place for this, the box containing the susceptible species needs to stay outside. Raptors should go directly to the university's raptor center. As you can imagine, this is not a decision made lightly. We are so sad to see HPAI moving through the wild populations this time around. If you'd like more information or want to share our public statement, it's on our website www.wrcmn.org<http://www.wrcmn.org> I'm happy to answer your questions off-channel via email. Regards, Tami Vogel Communications Director Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota www.wrcmn.org<http://www.wrcmn.org/> www.facebook/WRCMN<http://www.facebook/WRCMN> Twitter/IG @WRCMN ---- General information and guidelines for posting: https://moumn.org/listservice.html Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
