Graffit’s body was taken in a procession from the scene of his death to Fort Collins late Monday morning. A necropsy will be performed on the animal’s body at the Colorado State University’s veterinary center.
VIDEO: “It’s concerning because not all avian influenza viruses cause this level of mortality in birds. There are a lot of avian influenza viruses that birds can live with, and they’re not getting sick and dying. So this is just a particularly pathogenic virus in wild and domestic birds and that is very concerning, and the ability of the virus to transmit directly from birds to mammals is [also] concerning.” -Dr. Kristy Pabilonia
“We’ve been testing for [avian influenza] about a year now. And the volume goes up and down. Sometimes we can see up to 100-200 samples in a day. Sometimes even more than that, and sometimes we see just a handful of samples in a day.” -Dr. Kristy Pabilonia
Records from Vesta’s necropsy with Colorado State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories showed the bird tested positive for the avian influenza H5 subtype, which has been found in birds all across the country.