Five seabirds collected near Nome between 2024 and 2025 have tested positive for a highly contagious strain of bird flu known as H5N1.
That’s according to lab results from the U.S Department of Agriculture. The seabirds were collected by community members who found them dead or distressed.
Gay Sheffield is the Bering Strait agent for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Sea Grant Program. She says the samples were put away in a freezer for years while they awaited testing. It wasn’t until June, when a researcher from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital visited Nome, that the samples were taken for testing.
“[We] can't test here. That's why it was just magic to have St. Jude Research Hospital just show up here to look for harvested waterfowl,” Sheffield said. “When she wasn't getting much, she just said, "Oh, I'd love to look. You got any other samples?” And I said, "Yeah, I've been archiving these birds, waiting for them to be sampled.”
The researcher, Lisa Kercher, tested the seabird samples and forwarded potential positives to the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory, which found H5N1 in five of the carcasses.
The bird flu positive seabirds included two common murres and a glaucous gull collected in 2024, as well as a glaucous gull and a black legged Kittiwake collected in 2025.
Sheffield said this year the Alaska Department of Fish and Game also found the virus in a common eider collected in February, as well as a red fox struck by a vehicle in Nome in March, and a mink in White Mountain.
“So on land, we know there's been a crossover from the birds into a mammal,” Sheffield said.
14 fresh hunter harvested waterfowl samples field-tested by St. Jude in June came back negative, including six black brant and eight unspecified eggs.
Sheffield said that’s good news, but she cautions that the two sets of bird samples answer different questions. Hunters generally select birds that appear healthy enough to eat. The sea birds that tested positive were found dead or in distress and were collected to help determine if avian influenza was present.
Sheffield said more testing and monitoring is needed to determine the scope, scale, and risk of an outbreak.
“We have really so little data to work with to start to answer the questions that we're all starting to have, like, what does it mean for a person's health?” Sheffield said. “We don't have the kind of data, I don't think at this point, that can address that yet.”
Sheffield said the presence of bird flu raises concerns about possible risks to marine wildlife, particularly animals that may scavenge birds or carcasses. No marine mammal data is available in the region and there has not been any reported infections.
But the highly contagious strain has affected marine mammals in other places, including a mass mortality event of sea lions and elephant seals in South America and three adult harbor seals on an island off the coast of Washington.
“Marine mammals are, all our marine wildlife, are terribly important to this region and to the country and to the world,” Sheffield said.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the risk to the general public remains low. Human infections are rare and are generally linked to direct or close contact with infected birds, other infected animals, or contaminated material. There have been no documented cases of human to human transmission.
Still, officials advise people to avoid handling sick or dead birds and to keep pets away from them.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recommends wearing gloves and not eating, drinking, or smoking while cleaning game. They also recommend sanitizing hands, knives and surfaces after you're done.
If you see a distressed or dead seabird or marine wildlife call Alaska Sea Grant at 907-434-1149 or Kawerak at 907-443-4269.
Possible signs of illness in birds include disorientation, circling and jerky head movements, and no fear of humans.
