Red fox kits stand in the tall grass on St. Matthew Island in July of 2019. Alaska has recorded its first fox infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza, and the wildlife veterinarian with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says that young foxes and other young scavenging mammals are liley to be more susceptible to infections. (Photo by Rachel Richardson/USGS Alaska Science Center)

Red fox kits stand in the tall grass on St. Matthew Island in July of 2019. Alaska has recorded its first fox infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza, and the wildlife veterinarian with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says that young foxes and other young scavenging mammals are liley to be more susceptible to infections. (Photo by Rachel Richardson/USGS Alaska Science Center)

Red fox is 1st documented Alaska mammal infected with current strain of avian influenza

The infection was confirmed last week, according to state officials

  • By Yereth Rosen Alaska Beacon
  • Wednesday, June 1, 2022 10:44pm
  • NewsState News

By Yereth Rosen

Alaska Beacon

A dead red fox on the Aleutian Island of Unalaska was found to be infected with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that has spread around the world and into populations of domestic poultry and wild birds.

The fox was the first Alaska mammal found infected with the current influenza strain. The infection was confirmed last week, according to state officials. That fox joins other foxes in the upper Midwestern U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario as the first wild mammals in North America documented as infected with this type of avian influenza.

The Unalaska fox was found in the same area as some dead eagles that also were found to have died from this avian influenza, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. It is believed that the fox, like the eagles, was scavenging on smaller birds that were infected, officials said.

There will likely be other mammals infected in the coming weeks and months, said Kimberlee Beckmen, a wildlife health veterinarian with the Department of Fish and Game. Several types of mammals are scavengers, she said, so “we’re expecting it to show up in other species.”

Within those species, young animals are more likely to fall victim to this new avian influenza, she said. She noted that influenza-infected foxes found sick or dead elsewhere have been kits. In the case of the Unalaska fox, it was found to have been suffering from another illness, she said. “So it was probably highly susceptible,” she said.

In addition to the red fox, a dead northern harrier — a type of hawk — was found infected with this avian influenza, according to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. The case, from Juneau, was the first in Alaska so far for any species of wild bird other than bald eagles, Canada geese or, in a case from Fairbanks, a lesser Canada goose, according to DEC records. It was also the nation’s second northern harrier documented with the current avian influenza strain — so far. An earlier case was found in North Dakota, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Beckman said the discovery of an infected northern harrier in Alaska was not a surprise. “We’re expecting it to be in other raptors because raptors are scavengers,” she said.

As of Tuesday, there were about 1,300 documented cases of wild birds infected with the current avian influenza, according to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

While bald eagles and geese have been hard hit, a wide variety of species have been found infected in the Lower 48 states, including peregrine falcons, owls, seabirds, wild turkeys and, in a Florida zoo, several vultures.

In Alaska, there have been 25 wild birds found infected as of Tuesday, along with a backyard flock of chickens in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, according to the DEC’s running tally.

Yereth Rosen came to Alaska in 1987 to work for the Anchorage Times. She has been reporting on Alaska news ever since, covering stories ranging from oil spills to sled-dog races. She has reported for Reuters, for the Alaska Dispatch News, for Arctic Today and for other organizations.

This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.

More in News

Kenai Central High School’s Kyle Foster speaks during the 35th Annual Caring for the Kenai Oral Presentations at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward freshman wins 35th Caring for the Kenai with thermal asphalt proposal

Twelve finalists were chosen in this year’s competition.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) speaks to reporters about his decision to veto an education funding bill at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy’s veto of education funding bill puts pressure on lawmakers during final month of session

Governor also previews new bill with $560 BSA increase, plus additional funds for policy initiatives.

Brent Johnson speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly kills resolution asking for option to cap property assessment increases

Alaska municipalities are required by state statute to assess all properties at their full and true value.

City of Kenai Public Works Director Scott Curtain; City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel; Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche; Sen. Lisa Murkowski; Col. Jeffrey Palazzini; Elaina Spraker; Adam Trombley; and Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank cut the ribbon to celebrate the start of work on the Kenai River Bluff Stabilization Project in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, June 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai bluff stabilization info meeting rescheduled for April 30

Originally, the event was scheduled for the same time as the Caring for the Kenai final presentations.

Project stakeholders cut a ribbon at the Nikiski Shelter of Hope on Friday, May 20, 2022, in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Peninsula organizations awarded mental health trust grants

Three organizations, in Seldovia, Seward and Soldotna, recently received funding from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.

Chickens are seen inside of a chicken house at Diamond M Ranch on Thursday, April 1, 2021, off Kalifornsky Beach Road near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna council hears call to lessen chicken restrictions

The Soldotna City Council this month heard from people calling for a… Continue reading

Mount Spurr, raised to Advisory on the Volcano Alert Level, can be seen in yellow northwest of the Kenai Peninsula. (Map courtesy Alaska Volcano Observatory/U.S. Department of the Interior)
Spurr activity ‘declined slightly’

If an eruption were to occur, there would be noticeable indicators that may provide days to weeks of additional warning.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche delivers a borough update to the joint Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Micciche pushes mill rate decrease, presses state to boost education funding

Borough Mayor Peter Micciche delivered an update to the joint Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce on Wednesday.

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
SPITwSPOTS employees speak to an attendee of the Kenai Peninsula Job and Career Fair in Kenai on Wednesday.
Job fair gathers together employers, job seekers

“That face-to-face has kind of been missing for a lot of people.”

Most Read