13 California Condors Receive Experimental Bird Flu Vaccine

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Incident Command Team recently confirmed implementing conservation strategies to help California condors in light of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) bird flu outbreak.

As of July 28, 2023, over twenty-one Condors have died related to HPAI infections this year.

In May 2023, the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service announced the emergency use of a HPAI vaccine candidate to prevent additional deaths of California Condors.

The California Condor Vaccination Trial continued will continue into September 2023. 

Blood samples from 13 birds will be collected at 21 and 42-days following vaccination to evaluate the immune response from two different vaccination approaches. 

The first sample will be collected on August 8.

From a recovery perspective, three condors were transferred to the release site in Arizona to reacclimate to their home. A release date will be determined based on their behavior and weather.

The fourth bird that survived also has immunity to HPAI and will be released later as he is currently re-growing molted flight feathers. 

The California Condor Recovery Program continues to implement standard operations, and we are hopeful this will include the release of juveniles in 2023. However, due to the dynamic nature of HPAI outbreaks and logistics around potential future vaccinations, adjustments will be made accordingly, wrote the FWS.

The ongoing bird flu outbreak reached Europe, Asia, and Russia in 2023.

Furthermore, the U.S. government has already approved one bird flu vaccine (Audenz™) for people and invested in vaccine candidates should a pandemic occur.