Hepatitis C Virus in Bald Eagles

Since approximately 1994, bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) near the lower Wisconsin River in Wisconsin (USA), have experienced a lethal and enigmatic clinical syndrome. These bald eagles are dying from a new disease that mimics the symptoms of Hepatitis C in humans and has now been found in birds across the United States.

The disease is tentatively called Wisconsin River Eagle Syndrome (WRES). Symptoms include stumbling, vomiting, and seizures.

In an effort to identify the cause of WRES, scientists examined bald eagle tissues[1]. Their analyses led to the identification of Bald eagle Hepacivirus (BeHV), a novel hepacivirus-like virus. The type-virus of BeHV is the globally important human pathogen Hepatitis C Virus. Across its genome, BeHV appeared most similar to duck hepacivirus (DuHV) and generally more similar to human Hepatitis C Virus than to human pegivirus (HPgV).

At the moment of publication, the Bald eagle Hepacivirus (BeHV) was infecting about a third of the bald eagle population in the entire United States. Goldberg doesn't expect that the Bald eagle Hepacivirus is able to infect humans (personal communication, 02 December 2024).

Since 2019, no new research has been published on this subject, which is rather strange, but seems to be the effect of the Covid-19 epidemic. Scientists were called to study 'other things'. Bald eagles form a reservoir of a novel Hepatitis C-like virus that has the potential to jump species. And, remember, humans are a species too.

[1] Goldberg et al: Multidecade Mortality and a Homolog of Hepatitis C Virus in Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), the National Bird of the USA in Scientific Reports - 2019