It’s now early goose hunitng season here in Minnesota—with duck season coming up. My husband does both & I would like people’s opinions of whether he should or not. Of course, this also includes us consuming them. Minnesota is on the Mississippi flyway. Of all that I’ve read on the subject, I have great reserves about him doing it.
I totally understand your reservations. Most of the H5N1 few cases found in wild birds have been the “low path” version, not the “high path” version that is killing millions of birds in Asia and elsewhere. However, that doesn’t mean 1) that it can’t change quickly as H5N1 is highly contagious among birds. If you’ve looked at the migratory patterns then you know birds coming here can easily have come in contact with sick birds elsewhere. 2) authorities may not find it for awhile. Many wild birds are asympotmatic carriers (ducks especially), meaning they show no signs of the disease but can give it to other birds. So, the authorities would have to be doing lots of testing to see if it has arrived here. It could easily get missed for awhile until either wild or domesticated poutlry start dying off. Many states have testing programs, but given how contagious it is I don’t think it would take too many sick birds to start infecting others here.
Supposedly if infected meat is cooked thoroughly then it is safe to consume. I beleive the virus survives when frozen as well. I’m not a hunter (but I do understand your interest in the sport), but persoanlly, I wouldn’t risk it. Maybe give it a rest this season - you’re more than welcome to come down to CT and get the deer ravaging my back yard!
dustmask when ribbing, gloves/ and handwashing. The virus is probably not in the US, and even here in northern skandinavia the hunting will go as normal, even there was some cases of HP H5N1 this spring. Good hunting !
I think hunting in wetlands is a HIGH risk activity!! The risk of a sudden leap to undetected high path in waterfowl is a serious concern!! I worry about possible high path birds being ‘dressed’ at home and possible contamination of household surfaces and articles, as well as the hunter’s clothing, boots, gloves etc and more particularly that the virus that could become stuck to hair of hunter and his dogs! Are the hunter’s children in the habit of playing with the dogs or with the feathers of dead birds? Any child who touches any HP contaminated article then runs the risk of infecting his entire school. I am convinced that if H5N1 arrives in my community, it is more likely to be brought by a hunter than a traveller from Indonesia.
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