A third presumptive case of avian flu in Hawaiʻi has been identified in a wild bird. It is the first time that the virus may have infected and killed a native species.
A Hawaiian duck, or koloa maoli, was found sick in late November at the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge. The bird died less than a day after it was found. The Department of Land and Natural Resources is still waiting on confirmation that the flu that killed the bird is the highly pathogenic strain of the virus that has decimated flocks worldwide.
Avian flu can spread from an infected bird to a human – but the risk is low and so far no human cases have been reported in the state. The Conversation spoke with Afsheen Siddiqi, a wildlife biologist with the DLNR.
Hawaiʻi's isolation has sheltered our rare native birds from the virus so far, but Siddiqi says bird flu in Hawaiʻi is not a matter of “if” but “when.”
“We don't know how our birds will respond, if they have tolerance to the disease, if it's going to be a high mortality event,” explained Siddiqi. “This is the first case of a native, endangered Hawaiian bird that has had the disease. Last year we had one hybrid duck on Oʻahu that was tested positive, and that bird was fine, so we just don't know. Some birds fare okay with the disease. Other birds, you have mass mortality events. So we want to make sure that we're having surveillance out there, looking out for our birds, taking in any sick birds, any mortalities that we see. We want to get them tested just to see, is it a problem for our species?”
The DLNR considers this a low-risk situation, although Siddiqi advises that those working in closed areas with large bird populations should take extra precautionary measures in case the virus is circulating in the environment.
Siddiqi told HPR that the native duck was likely exposed to a migratory bird on Kauaʻi that had the virus. However, there is no evidence of a large, widespread outbreak of the virus.
“This is the third presumptive case of the virus in the islands, and so it's on three different islands that we've spotted it, and so just being aware that that is out there, and that if there's any suspicious mortality events that people are seeing of birds, we would like to hear about it,” said Siddiqi. “We definitely don't want it to spread to other areas. And the faster we know about it, the more action we can do ahead of time to prevent it from having potential agricultural impacts and things like that, but we do think the risk is low at this time.”
Siddiqi encourages the public to view wildlife from a distance and refrain from feeding wild birds.
This story aired on The Conversation on Dec. 12, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
