Hunting dogs may represent an overlooked H5N1 exposure interface in the United States

Hunting dogs that retrieve wild birds could occupy an important but poorly studied position in the ecology of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1). A U.S. survey of 112 hunters found frequent close contact between hunters, their dogs and harvested birds, while the use of personal protective equipment was uncommon. The study does not demonstrate H5N1 infection in dogs or hunters, but it identifies several plausible exposure pathways that merit closer One Health surveillance.

Published in Veterinary Sciences, the study examined hunting practices, disease-prevention measures and everyday interactions between hunters and their dogs in the United States. The work was motivated by the expanding mammalian host range of H5N1 in North America since 2022 and by the particular exposure of retrieving dogs to wild waterfowl, an important reservoir of avian influenza viruses.

Close contact with birds, dogs and people

The researchers surveyed 112 hunters in 2024. The responses showed that hunting dogs were closely integrated into family life: 93.8% of participants considered their dog part of the family, although only 42.9% described the animal as a pet.

This close relationship matters because hunting dogs can have direct contact with recently killed birds, feathers, blood, secretions and contaminated water or soil before returning to vehicles and homes.

Dogs can therefore potentially connect several environments: wild-bird habitats, hunting equipment, human handlers and household settings.

Protective equipment was rarely used

The study identified particularly low use of personal protective equipment.

Among respondents, 96.4% did not use PPE when handling a sick dog, while 81.3% did not use PPE when handling harvested birds.

These behaviours do not establish that transmission is occurring, but they increase opportunities for exposure to avian influenza viruses and other zoonotic pathogens when infected wildlife is present.

The risk is not limited to direct handling of birds. Dogs retrieving waterfowl may also be exposed through contaminated wetlands, carcasses, feathers and water, then bring biological material back onto fur, paws or equipment.

H5N1 infection in dogs remains rare

The authors stress that confirmed H5N1 infections in dogs remain uncommon.

The study did not test the surveyed hunters or their dogs for H5N1, and it cannot estimate the probability of transmission from birds to dogs or from dogs to humans. Instead, it describes behaviours and contact patterns that could facilitate exposure if virus is present.

That distinction is important. Hunting dogs should not be considered established H5N1 amplifying hosts on the basis of these data.

Their importance lies in the fact that they repeatedly enter environments where infected waterfowl may be present and then have prolonged close contact with people.

A One Health surveillance gap

The study highlights a surveillance interface that has received much less attention than poultry farms, dairy cattle or wildlife rehabilitation centres.

Since 2022, H5N1 has been detected in a growing range of North American mammals, including foxes, cats, mink, marine mammals and cattle. Against that background, dogs used for waterfowl hunting represent a logical population for targeted investigation, particularly during periods of intense wild-bird circulation.

Future studies could combine behavioural surveys with serology and PCR testing of hunting dogs, environmental sampling of wetlands and equipment, and surveillance of harvested birds.

Such work would help determine whether the exposure pathways identified by this survey translate into measurable infections.

For H5N1 surveillance, the study therefore identifies hunting dogs not as a demonstrated new reservoir, but as a potential bridge at the wildlife–domestic animal–human interface that remains poorly characterised.