AIV in Foxes Update 06 11 2022

(c)2022 Minden Pictures

It appears that some people think that I am "creating panic" and giving the anti fox lobby what they want. AIV in foxes is not, as far as we are aware, widespread but just as we have to be cautious with dead badgers due to the possibility of Bovine TB so we have to be careful with dead foxes.

People do not like that their way of feeding and interacting with their "furry fox babies" has to change. Ditto with badgers. Enticing foxes to feed on the doorstep, from your hand or coaxing them into homes with food is moronic. Buy a pet dog. There are even people who feed rats in the garden. Well, it started as one and I advised to move food away from where it could get at it as one rat leads to ...many rats (now they have a "furry garden pet" problem and want to know what to do).

Wildlife is wild and people are acting with stupidity by feeding mice, rats, foxes, badgers and anything else they can and some do this simply for social media "likes". AIV is far nastier than covid and I was waiting for a good while to see this cross-over into foxes but lucky so far. I was aware of AIV in foxes in Europe and that was something I hoped that we would not see here. But a dead bird with AIV is a free meal so...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Wild Red Foxes, the Netherlands, 2021

We detected infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus clade 2.3.4.4b in 2 red fox (Vulpes vulpes) cubs found in the wild with neurologic signs in the Netherlands. The virus is related to avian influenza viruses found in wild birds ...

And although we do not know numbers of foxes that have died in the UK with AIV it is NOT a panic situation but one to keep an eye on. No one takes my word for it so, again, and note DELIBERATE feeding of foxes:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1) Infection in Red Foxes Fed Infected Bird Carcasses

Eating infected wild birds may put wild carnivores at high risk for infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus (H5N1). To determine whether red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are susceptible to infection with HPAI virus (H5N1), we infected 3 ...

If we got the right information passed along to the authorities then this should be classed as a wildlife crime and possible prosecutable crime to potentially pass the virus to humans.

www.wiltshirelive.co.uk

Reports of dead foxes amid bird flu outbreak sparks concern

DEFRA have advised that though risk to cats and dogs is very low, as it's primarily a disease that affects birds, reasonable precautions should be taken to reduce exposure to wild birds in particular wild waterfowl

This is all very grim and makes me want the days when only mange was a problem. Looking at the number of normal fox deaths in the UK it is obvious that the fox population was under stress. I am hoping not, but this could potentially push foxes to being a rare sight in future.

I really hope I am wrong.