PORTLAND, OR -- A historic clinical trial aimed at protecting the endangered California Condor from Bird Flu is underway in Oregon. The collaborative effort between U.S. Fish and Wildlife and zoos in Oregon, Los Angeles and San Diego began earlier this year.
There are only around 300 California Condors living in the wild. And earlier this year, a bird flu outbreak threatened to undo years of conservation work. "Twenty-one birds died within two weeks because of Avian Influenza," says Dr. Carlos Sanchez, "That’s pretty scary."
Dr. Sanchez is Director of Animal Health at the Oregon Zoo. It's one of just three institutions now testing a vaccine for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. Four condors at the Oregon zoo received the vaccine, while five used as a control are at the zoo’s Jonsson Center in Clackamas.
He says the trial is going well. "First, we had a lack of negative side effects, which is what we do the first three days. We check the birds every half an hour, without grabbing them. Then we grab them and check the injection site. Then at 21 days, we collect enough blood to send to a lab." All three zoos in the program use the same lab in Georgia to test for the presence of antibodies. So far, 60% of the vaccinated condors produced measurable antibodies with no negative side effects. Dr. Sanchez says the result is similar to the COVID vaccine in humans, "You may still get COVID, but you’re not going to get super sick. And I think that’s the objective of this vaccine is it is another tool that we have to protect this species now against this disease."
The drug trial follows strict protocols and Dr. Sanchez says just one vet at each location is allowed to access and dispense the vaccine, "This has never been done before. This is actually a vaccine that’s not used at all in the United States because it could have potential implications on the poultry industry; and this is a multi-billion dollar industry. So, a lot of people had to get involved and a lot of people had to get approvals in order to even consider this." Because of those concerns, he says it's unlikely the vaccine will be approved for other bird species.
