BIG BEAR, CALIFORNIA, Oct. 21 (Our California Times) — Bird flu was the primary underlying cause of the illness that killed Jackie, the bald eagle from California’s Big Bear Valley, according to findings released Oct. 14, 2026, by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its partners.
The investigation found an unusual course of disease: a severe stomach ulcer, ongoing blood loss and a bacterial infection. It also detected rat poison in Jackie’s liver, but the state agency did not identify that chemical as the primary cause of her illness or death.
Jackie, whose life was followed through a livestream, died Aug. 10 after more than three weeks of intensive care at Ojai Raptor Center, KESQ reported.
What did the examination find?
Veterinary pathologists at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance performed the necropsy — an examination of an animal after death. Jackie was identified as Patient 26-519. The wildlife agency released the results with the alliance and Ojai Raptor Center.
The conclusions drew on the examination, laboratory testing and toxicology tests, which look for poisons and other chemicals. Together, those findings identified highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, commonly called bird flu, as the primary underlying cause of Jackie’s decline, the agency said.
HPAI is an infectious disease that primarily affects birds and has circulated in wild bird populations across the United States, the San Bernardino Sun reported.
How did the virus damage her body?
Steve Kubiski, director of disease investigations at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, described the illness as an uncommon form of the infection.
“In an uncommon presentation of the virus, the infection caused a severe ulcer in her stomach that led to persistent internal bleeding, anemia, and the development of bacterial sepsis,” Kubiski said.
An ulcer is an open sore in tissue. Anemia means the blood has too few healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen effectively. Sepsis is a dangerous response to infection.
CDFW said the chronic disease affected Jackie’s ventriculus, the muscular part of a bird’s stomach also called the gizzard. Damaged, ulcerated tissue allowed bacteria to enter her body. Ojai Raptor Center said testing confirmed HPAI in the affected tissue and linked the virus to the severe stomach ulceration.
The damage extended beyond the stomach. CDFW reported severe inflammation and blood clots in the heart and major blood vessels, along with HPAI genetic material in several tissues. Yahoo News also reported blood clots in a wing and a kidney, as well as liver and lung abnormalities.
Officials described several interconnected disease processes that developed over time and contributed to Jackie’s decline and death, rather than one isolated injury.
What did the rat poison finding mean?
A toxicology screen detected brodifacoum in Jackie’s liver, along with other persistent environmental contaminants, CDFW said. Brodifacoum is an anticoagulant rodenticide — a rat poison that interferes with blood clotting.
Although Jackie had internal bleeding associated with her stomach ulcer, the examination did not find the pattern of uncontrolled bleeding typically associated with anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning. For that reason, CDFW did not identify brodifacoum as the primary cause of illness or death.
Testing also ruled out West Nile virus infection and lead poisoning, the agency said.
What about the reported injury?
ABC News reported that Jackie sustained an injury in a fight with other birds before her death. That report did not identify a primary source for the injury detail.
