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, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in findings released Oct. 14, 2026.
The examination found an unusual course of disease: the infection caused severe stomach damage, followed by continuing blood loss and a serious bacterial infection. Officials also detected a rat poison in her liver, but did not identify it as the primary cause of her illness or death.
Jackie’s life had been followed through a Big Bear livestream, SFGate reported. She died Aug. 10 after more than three weeks of intensive care at Ojai Raptor Center, KESQ reported.
What did the examination establish?
Veterinary pathologists at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance performed the necropsy—an examination of an animal after death to determine what caused its illness and death. Jackie was identified in the findings as Patient 26-519.
CDFW released the results with the alliance and Ojai Raptor Center, which had cared for her. The agency said the necropsy, laboratory tests and toxicology findings identified highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, as the primary underlying cause of her decline. Toxicology testing looks for poisons and other potentially harmful substances.
HPAI is commonly called bird flu. It is an infectious disease that primarily affects birds and has circulated among wild bird populations throughout the United States, the San Bernardino Sun reported.
How did bird flu damage her body?
Steve Kubiski, director of disease investigations at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, described 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 a damaged, open area of tissue. Anemia means the blood has too few healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen properly. Sepsis is a life-threatening response to infection.
CDFW said the chronic disease affected Jackie’s ventriculus, the muscular part of a bird’s stomach also called the gizzard. The damaged tissue allowed bacteria to enter her body. Tests found HPAI genetic material in several tissues, including the damaged gizzard tissue.
The agency also found severe inflammation and blood clots in the heart and several major blood vessels. Ojai Raptor Center said diagnostic testing confirmed HPAI in affected tissue and that multiple complications developed over time.
Yahoo News separately reported blood clots in a wing and a kidney, along with abnormalities in the liver and lungs.
Was an injury involved?
ABC News reported that Jackie sustained an injury in a fight with other birds before her death. The report identified no primary source for that detail.
The disease findings described several connected problems rather than a single isolated injury. CDFW said severe, interconnected disease processes had been developing over time and ultimately contributed to Jackie’s decline and death.
Why wasn’t rat poison identified as the main cause?
A toxicology screen detected brodifacoum in Jackie’s liver, along with other persistent environmental contaminants, CDFW said. Brodifacoum is an anticoagulant rodenticide—a poison used against rodents that interferes with blood clotting.
Although Jackie suffered internal bleeding from the stomach damage, pathologists did not find the pattern of uncontrolled bleeding typically associated with that poison.
“The necropsy did not find uncontrolled bleeding typically associated with anticoagulant rodenticide; therefore, brodifacoum was not identified as the primary cause of illness or death,” CDFW said.
Testing also ruled out West Nile virus infection and lead poisoning, according to the agency.
