Avian Flu (H5N1) - Discussion

[HorseGirlAbby]

You mean second?

Some say yes.

Some say yes.

Some say yes.

Some say yes.

Um, thanks? And yes, there is more than one case in WA. And since avian flu has a 90-100% mortality rate in chickens, it's better to prevent it than treat it. I did some research on my own after posting that. Waterfowl are mostly to blame, but all wild birds can spread it.

 

[Brooks_]

Um, thanks? And yes, there is more than one case in WA. And since avian flu has a 90-100% mortality rate in chickens, it's better to prevent it than treat it. I did some research on my own after posting that. Waterfowl are mostly to blame, but all wild birds can spread it.

Did your research also show how they were injecting birds with high volume HPAI to get that high mortality? I guess to simulate factory farming. From my reading, it is much less fatal in back yard conditions.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Did your research also show how they were injecting birds with high volume HPAI to get that high mortality? I guess to simulate factory farming. From my reading, it is much less fatal in back yard conditions.

I didn't read that. It may be less fatal, but I'm not taking any chances. I love my flock too much.

 

[Brooks_]

I didn't read that. It may be less fatal, but I'm not taking any chances. I love my flock too much.

I don't advocate taking preventable chances.

 

[Tre3hugger]

Did your research also show how they were injecting birds with high volume HPAI to get that high mortality? I guess to simulate factory farming. From my reading, it is much less fatal in back yard conditions.

Please accompany that statement with a reliable source

 

[Brooks_]

Please accompany that statement with a reliable source

Disprove it if you care. I'm not spoon feeding.

 

[Iluveggers]

The only statistic I don’t think is fair coming from the media is that tens of millions of birds have died from AI. Most of those birds were culled because one or more flock members on their premises tested positive. Yes I believe it’s deadly and I am afraid, bu that makes it seem like 10 million birds dropped dead on their own. They likely would have but we don’t know for sure if any would make it at all.

 

[RoyalChick]

Wow. I came on this thread to see if there was any good information about the bird flu, and while a couple of people have posted some helpful stuff, the majority of it has been arguing. Why, people, why? This avian influenza is real. There's a suspected case not half an hour away from where I live, and Washington has just had its first confirmed case.

Anyway, what I wanted to ask is: Do small, wild birds pose a big threat to my flock? Only sparrows can get into the run. And, hypothetically, could you treat avian flu, or is the mortality rate so high it's counterproductive? Also, I've heard that it's mainly waterfowl spreading the flu. Is this true, or is landfowl just as much to blame?

Here is a link to a pretty thorough summary of how much of a transmission risk different bird species are.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7690888/

It is a heavy read but quite informative. My (likely over simplistic) takeaway is first that all birds can have and transmit bird flu. That the real-world risk depends a lot on the species and the geography.
Some species are very small and therefore don't shed much virus (think hummingbird), or biologically are low shedders, or behaviorally don't come in contact with reservoir species (like ducks) and/or chickens. Whereas others hang out with the ducks, hang out at chicken farms and are either big or come in flocks that are collectively big (think Grackles).

The BYC thread that has the most informed and serious discussion on this round of Avian flu is: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/avian-influenza-found-in-south-carolina.1507893/

That thread is now long but has lots of info including the link to APHIS and the live map.

Here is the APHIS link for backyard and commercial chickens (embedded is a link for the wild bird screening): https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...pai-2022/2022-hpai-commercial-backyard-flocks

And here is the link to the map that seems sometimes to be updated earlier than APHIS which can be up to a week behind: https://recombinomics.co/h5n1-hpai-united-states-2022-map/

Hope that all helps.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

The difference between LPAI and HPAI is definitional, based on observation. Death rates above 75%, HPAI. Death rates below 75%, LPAI.

Here's an "injected" study using the Chinese variants from a few years back.
Injection, of course, is good science - it allows one to control the dosing. The amount does is based on 50EID - the point at which a viral load can successfully infect an egg, half the time.

Here's the observed results of the outbreak in Nigeria - not lab conditions. Not that, by definition, that's LPAI - not enough birds died to qualify as LPAI.

I can cherry pick sources to show whatever you want, almost. But if your complaint is injection methodology itself, I'm curious as to your proposed, reproduceable, alternative for ensuring consistant exposure between cohorts.

 

[Brooks_]

Disprove it if you care. I'm not spoon feeding.

Apologies @Tre3hugger that comment was rude.

I don't recall if it was through a search or link. And I didn't bookmark it. It is still bad in backyard conditions.... just not the near 100 percent fatality rate that many sources claim.