LITTLE CHUTE - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources confirmed with the Post-Crescent on Friday that the 90 dead mallards found in a Little Chute pond tested negative for HPAI, also known as bird flu.

“The ducks tested from Little Chute were negative for avian influenza viruses (including H5N1). The cause of death was aspergillosis, which is a fungal infection. Wild birds become infected by breathing in fungal spores from areas such as agricultural fields covered with moldy waste grain in fall or early winter,” a DNR statement said.

After 90 dead ducks were removed from a stormwater pond in Little Chute in late February, officials with the Wisconsin DNR have confirmed that it was not due to bird flu. An official with the Wisconsin DNR confirmed on Friday,