07.02.2015

Two hawks in Whatcom and Skagit counties are the first confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild raptors in North America. The Cooper’s hawk was collected in Whatcom County on Dec. 29 and the red-tailed hawk in Skagit County on Jan. 9. Tests confirmed Jan. 26 that both had the H5N2 strain of avian flu. 
The hawks died of other causes - one struck a power line, the other was preyed on by something else - but a necropsy after their deaths showed that the birds were infected with influenza virus.
It is the first time wild birds in North America were found to have highly pathogenic avian influenza.