New vaccine expected to give endangered California condors protection against deadly bird flu

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Antibodies found in early results of a historic new vaccine trial are expected to give endangered California condors at least partial protection from the deadliest strain of avian influenza in U.S. history.

The California condor is the only bird species in the U.S. that has been approved for the new emergency-use vaccine, which was administered this summer to condors bred in captivity during a trial at the Los Angeles Zoo, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and the Oregon Zoo.

Authorities launched the study after the avian influenza deaths earlier this year of 21 free-flying condors in Arizona, part of a Southwest flock usually accounting for a third of the wild population.

Wildlife officials feared that the outbreak’s toll on the California condor population could erase any gains made to rebuild the wild population, spurring the efforts to fast-track the vaccine.