In a study recently published by the U.S. Geological Survey, scientists found that avian influenza genomes from the 2014-2015 outbreak likely originated from Asia and infected and spread among North American wild birds.
Though the possibility of wild birds spreading disease to domestic poultry is low thanks to biosecurity efforts, Dan Grear, a disease ecologist with the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, says that there is still a risk to domesticated poultry due to the virus’ genetic makeup.
“Our analyses showed that HPAI viruses can adapt easily to novel species and environments,” Grear said.
The virus can even. . .

