Bird flu outbreak in NYC animals prompts new health alert: New Yorkers are told ... trends now
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New Yorkers are being urged to keep their distance from wildlife after bird flu was discovered in NYC — amid fears the disease could jump to humans.
Geese, falcons and hawks living in Manhattan's parks and green spaces have tested positive for the virus, officials say, warning cases could be more widespread.
Residents and visitors are being warned not to chase or try to catch birds and to wash their hands after any contact with droppings.
It is feared humans could become infected after a farmer in Texas tested positive for the virus at the start of this month, becoming the second case in the US in history.
Experts say that every case in people raises the risk of the virus gaining mutations allowing it to better infect and spread between humans.
Geese, falcons and hawks living in Manhattan's parks and green spaces have tested positive for the virus, officials say, although cases could be more widespread (stock image)
The birds — also including a chicken — tested positive for the virus in Marcus Garvey Park based in Harlem, in the north of Manhattan.
Warning people to be careful around animals, Mount Sinai microbiologist Philip Meade said: 'You are got going to walk past a sick goose and get the bird flu, it won't work like that.
'[But] precautions that everybody should be taking would be just to limit contact with wildlife.
'You shouldn't be running up to a Canada goose and trying to catch it,
