UPDATE: The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is lifting its previous recommendation to cease feeding birds.

Original story below…

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NOTTINGHAM, MD—Wildlife officials in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. are investigating a mysterious illness that has been affecting local birds.

In late May, wildlife managers in the tri-state area (and West Virginia) began receiving reports of sick and dying birds with eye swelling and crusty discharge, as well as neurological signs. No definitive cause of death has yet been identified.

The District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, and National Park Service are continuing to work with diagnostic laboratories to investigate the cause of mortality. Those laboratories include the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, the University of Georgia Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, and the University of Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures Program.

Birds congregating at feeders and baths can transmit disease to one another. Therefore, the state and District agencies recommend that the public in the outbreak area:

• Cease feeding birds until this wildlife mortality event has concluded;
• Clean feeders and bird baths with a 10% bleach solution;
• Avoid handling birds, but wear disposable gloves if handling is necessary; and
• Keep pets away from sick or dead birds as a standard precaution.

Anyone who removes dead birds should place them in a sealable plastic bag to dispose with household trash.

Additional information will be shared as diagnostic results are received.

Photo via Belinda Burwell