Avian influenza found in Dundy County

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has announced avian influenza has been found in northern, eastern and western portions of Dundy County.

Conservation officer Sophie Gobber, who oversees Chase, Dundy, Hayes and Hitchcock Counties, said avian influenza hasn’t been found at Enders State Recreation Area.

“We haven’t found the amount of dead geese to indicate avian influenza is at Enders,” Gobber said.

With duck and goose season still open until Jan. 25, Gobber said hunters and people with domestic poultry should be on the look out for the virus, especially around sand pits and smaller bodies of water that haven’t frozen over yet. 

Wild waterfowl shed the virus into the environment through their oral and nasal secretions and feces. According to the Center for Disease Control, susceptible birds become infected when they have contact with the virus as it is shed by infected birds. They also can become infected through contact with surfaces that are contaminated with virus from infected birds.

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