Officials in Plymouth, Massachusetts, reminded the public on Sunday that more than 60 dead birds found in the Billington Sea were suspected to have died from highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Clean Harbor Waste Management crews contracted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and state officials responded to Billington Sea on Sunday morning and removed numerous dead geese, swans and other wildlife from the pond.

The day before, state ornithologists told town officials that a dead goose removed from Plymouth was "highly suspected" of having avian influenza.

Officials said it could take a week to get a clear answer because only one lab in the U.S. can officially confirm a positive case of bird flu.

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Still, state officials say they will begin testing the birds removed from the Billington Sea to determine the official cause of their deaths.

State and local officials advise the public to avoid contact with sick or dead wild birds and other animals that may be infected with the avian influenza virus and to wear protective gear if contact with wild animals cannot be avoided.

People who keep poultry should also take precautions because avian influenza can be spread through direct contact between birds.

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Plymouth Director of Public Health Karen Keane said: "Poultry keepers should keep their birds away from wild waterfowl, limit the number of people who come into contact with the flock and if you share equipment with other bird keepers, do this between sites. Clean and disinfect.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says handling infected birds is unlikely to cause illness in humans. However, there have been 67 human cases of avian influenza since 2022, 66 of which occurred in 2024.

Nearly 40 cases of human avian influenza have been confirmed in one state, ranking first in the country

In fact, as cases of bird flu continue to appear across the United States, safety precautions continue to increase

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced recommendations for faster and more thorough testing of hospitalized influenza A patients to differentiate between seasonal and avian influenza.

The CDC wrote in a news release that the accelerated influenza A “subtyping” of hospitalized patients is in response to “sporadic human infections” of avian influenza.

The agency said its goal is to prevent delays in identifying avian influenza infections and promote better patient care, "timely infection control" and case investigation.

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The CDC says these delays are more likely to occur during flu season due to higher patient volumes.

Fox News Digital's Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.