"As a new version of bird flu spread through North America this spring, scientists began finding the virus in red foxes, bobcats and other mammals."
"Something was wrong with the foxes. That was what callers to the Dane County Humane Society in Wisconsin kept saying in April, as they reported fox kits, or young foxes, behaving in strange ways: shaking, seizing or struggling to stand. The kits, which were often lethargic and wandering by themselves, also seemed unusually easy to approach, showing little fear of humans.
“We just kept getting calls,” said Erin Lemley, a wildlife veterinary technician at the humane society’s wildlife center. “And the foxes started coming in.”
Some of the kits that were admitted for treatment were quiet and withdrawn, she said. Others stumbled around or had seizures, their heads ticcing, their eyes flicking rhythmically. After the staff ruled out rabies, low blood sugar and other potential causes, laboratory testing revealed a surprising culprit: a highly virulent strain of avian influenza."
Emily Anthes reports for the New York Times June 18, 2022.
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