Avian Flu WARNING!!!

[silkiecuddles]

Hm ok. Sadly vet visits cost $. The poor parakeet died. It happened to the last one too. They puff up, sneeze a little bit, can't perch, then they had a seizure and died not long after. I don't think it's a coincidence that they're both from a big brand pet store.

 

[torilovessmiles]

Hm ok. Sadly vet visits cost $. The poor parakeet died. It happened to the last one too. They puff up, sneeze a little bit, can't perch, then they had a seizure and died not long after. I don't think it's a coincidence that they're both from a big brand pet store.

It's likely something other than AI. It could be a bacterial respiratory infection, since the outbreak is almost exclusively in the commercial poultry industry. If you bought them recently, though, I would definitely request a refund or replacement. They sold you sick birds.

 

[silkiecuddles]

The first bird they refunded with a card towards their store, so we got the one who just died. It's too late to refund though. They give you a 14 day time period to return, dead or alive.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Lets not all jump on the rumor bandwagon,, it only takes a little research to find out facts. It may be just a statewide ban,, some do have them, MOST do not. As far as flue spread goes,,,, the last reported case was in Iowa, 12 days ago and no other infections,, (12 days may not seem very long,, but with this stuff it is like an eternity considering how fast it spreads) that includes NC,, you guys have not had one single case there. States along the Pacific flyway have not had any confirmed cases in over 4 months. As far as bans and regualtions go on shipping and transporting birds, chicks and eggs,, those have ALWAYS been in place,, and every state is different as far as regulations go,, and some have changed a bit since this outbreak,, but they have been in place for a long time

http://www.guineafowl.com/GeneralStore/regulations.htm

may be slightly out of date with NEW regs in some states,, but there they are


Yes wild birds carry it,, they are the primary source of spreading, along migratorial flyways,,, all birds can carry it, but mostly waterfowl. August is about the time some wild birds will start migrating back south along the Atlantic flyway.

This is NOT the first time bird flu has had an outbreak in North America,, nor will it ever disappear,,,,, back in 2004 there was a small outbreak in Texas,, another I remember offhand I believe mid 70s (or was it 80s?,, i'm getting old) in turkey flocks in Canada. So if anything any bans are likely temporary and most states have stated that they are temporary.


I am also going to reiterate what I have said before,, and in several threads. This is something that is barely affecting backyard flocks. The vast majority of birds affected are from very large poultry operations,, the kinds of places that house 10,000 birds in ONE building and have several buildings sitting in rows,, some farms having well over 1 million birds confined in close tight spaces,, that is why the numbers are so vastly high when you hear it in the news,, in all actuality,, there have been ONLY 223 confirmed cases in all 50 states (sorry Cananda,, i don't know your stats),,, if this were as widely spread as the media makes it SOUND,, I would think there would be a heck of a lot more cases than that.
Don't get me wrong,,, this stuff has the potential of some serious bad juju,, but I think slightly squued numbers (reporting number of birds affected rather than actual cases) plus the intensity and quickness of how news travells nowdays (interweb, satelite tv, cable,, heck,, we have like 20 news channels now) has made this look much worse than it really is
My birds are still free ranging, have been the whole time,,,, now over 300 as the summer progresses and still doing well and fine

Thank you so much for you post. You were very informative.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Thank you all for your input. This thread has turned out to be very informative.

I do have one question. As I search the internet for answers I still am unclear on the correct answer.

Can this bird flu be transmitted to humans? In other words, I am scared to death that my family could get it.
It would be bad enough if my flock got it, but then our family. does anyone know a relatively confident answer on
this?

Thanks

 

[torilovessmiles]

There has not been a single case of the two strains of this outbreak infecting humans. The CDC warns that it's not impossible, but unlikely. I believe that is to encourage people in the commercial poultry industry not to be careless with their safety precautions (as they often are). Keep in mind, the Avian Flu, I'm pretty sure, is not airborne. You would have to come in direct contact with the fluids of an infected bird, and then the virus would have to enter your body. You can prevent that by simply washing your hands

Thank you all for your input. This thread has turned out to be very informative.

I do have one question. As I search the internet for answers I still am unclear on the correct answer.

Can this bird flu be transmitted to humans? In other words, I am scared to death that my family could get it.
It would be bad enough if my flock got it, but then our family. does anyone know a relatively confident answer on
this?

Thanks

 

[MysteriaSdrassa]

The plain and simple truth is yes,, it is possible.
BUT,, and I say that with great big letters and exclamations etc, etc, etc,, the chances of it being passed to humans is VERY, VERY, VERY slim. I believe there are only 2 cases in the US where it was transfered to humans,,, 1 with this outbreak and another with the 2004 outbreak in TX,, I have documentation on that somewhere. Both cases involved workers who were closely involved in either very large poultry operations or involved with the desrruction and disposal of said birds in large poultry operations. Again I am going to point out that to date,, there have still only been 223 confirmed cases in this outbreak and there hasn't been a new one since June 16. Compared to the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak,, that had cases in the 10s of thousands,, I personally say there it was more hype than anything. Yes,, a lot of birds died from it, millions,, but that was at the hands of humans as a "just in case" measure and I'm not entirely convinced it was the right way to handle it. I have documented most information on how this stuff dies off and what kills it etc on johns destruction and disposal thread because i was tired of all the hype and half truths floating about on it,, and plus a thought had creaped into my brain about incubating eggs and if it virus would be killed off from incubator temps,, turns out, yes, it will, you can check it out there,, most of the sciency stuff i posted was within the last week,, so just follow my posts.... i may just repost it here as well,, but i am tired and typing takes me a while,, soooo,, it may be a bit
Anyway,, I think you are pretty safe

 

[torilovessmiles]

The plain and simple truth is yes,, it is possible.
BUT,, and I say that with great big letters and exclamations etc, etc, etc,, the chances of it being passed to humans is VERY, VERY, VERY slim. I believe there are only 2 cases in the US where it was transfered to humans,,, 1 with this outbreak and another with the 2004 outbreak in TX,, I have documentation on that somewhere. Both cases involved workers who were closely involved in either very large poultry operations or involved with the desrruction and disposal of said birds in large poultry operations. Again I am going to point out that to date,, there have still only been 223 confirmed cases in this outbreak and there hasn't been a new one since June 16. Compared to the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak,, that had cases in the 10s of thousands,, I personally say there it was more hype than anything. Yes,, a lot of birds died from it, millions,, but that was at the hands of humans as a "just in case" measure and I'm not entirely convinced it was the right way to handle it. I have documented most information on how this stuff dies off and what kills it etc on johns destruction and disposal thread because i was tired of all the hype and half truths floating about on it,, and plus a thought had creaped into my brain about incubating eggs and if it virus would be killed off from incubator temps,, turns out, yes, it will, you can check it out there,, most of the sciency stuff i posted was within the last week,, so just follow my posts.... i may just repost it here as well,, but i am tired and typing takes me a while,, soooo,, it may be a bit
Anyway,, I think you are pretty safe

I believe the infection you are referring to in this outbreak is actually the one in China, which is a different strain of the virus. The H7N9 (in China right now) virus has infected humans but neither the H5N2 or H5N8 (in the US right now) viruses have infected humans yet.
Like I said, the CDC warns that it is possible. Just take the normal precautions you do with your birds, like washing your hands.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/03/health/bird-flu-cdc/
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/watch/avian-flu-h7n9-china

*edited for typo

 

[MysteriaSdrassa]

Ok,, had to dig for a bit,,, my poor brain is swimming from all this

I was slightly off and got some previous cases mixed with a current case and I apologize,, but it was 2 cases in the US and a 3rd in Canada but not of these current strains and were from past cases,, there is another recent case of H5N1 in Canada but to make this not so confusing, I will break this down in an orderly fasion,, i hope,,,
Ok,, just the facts ma'am,,

here we go,,,

1) The US and Canada have been hit by 3 strains of AI this time around,, H5N1, H5N2, and H5N8,,, N2 and N8 being the two big ones and I believe it was only 1 or 2 cases of N1 in poultry. I can find those stats again and add them later if ya'll want.
2) The previous human infections in the US and Canada were from the strains H7N2 and H7N3 back in 2002, 03 and 04
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/outbreaks.htm
3) The China strain of H7N9 has not been transmited to the US
4) H5N2 and H5N8 have not been transmited to human workers here in the US (i did not dig any further to see if it had elsewhere)
5) H5N1 has had 1 single human infection in Canada (again, I didn't dig any deeper,, forgive me, I am tired)
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/news/first-human-h5n1-americas.htm
Also of note, this case was not related to the N1 infections listed in the first fact, but rather something that was brought back from China from a person traveling.
So there ya go,, hope it helps

As for me,, I'm going to go grab a cup of coffee and go outside and sit, watch, and enjoy my birds

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Ok,, had to dig for a bit,,, my poor brain is swimming from all this    I was slightly off and got some previous cases mixed with a current case and I apologize,, but it was 2 cases in the US and a 3rd in Canada but not of these current strains and were from past cases,,   there is another recent case of H5N1 in Canada but to make this not so confusing, I will break this down in an orderly fasion,, i hope,,,
Ok,, just the facts ma'am,, here we go,,,

1)  The US and Canada have been hit by 3 strains of AI this time around,, H5N1, H5N2, and H5N8,,, N2 and N8 being the two big ones and I believe it was only 1 or 2 cases of N1 in poultry.  I can find those stats again and add them later if ya'll want.
2) The previous human infections in the US and Canada were from the strains H7N2 and H7N3 back in 2002, 03 and 04
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/outbreaks.htm
3) The China strain of H7N9 has not been transmited to the US
4) H5N2 and H5N8 have not been transmited to human workers here in the US (i did not dig any further to see if it had elsewhere)
5) H5N1 has had 1 single human infection in Canada (again, I didn't dig any deeper,, forgive me, I am tired)
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/news/first-human-h5n1-americas.htm 
Also of note, this case was not related to the N1 infections listed in the first fact, but rather something that was brought back from China from a person traveling.
So there ya go,, hope it helps  
As for me,, I'm going to go grab a cup of coffee and go outside and sit, watch, and enjoy my birds

Wow!! Thank you so much for your help. You have been very informative, you have put my worry to ease. I was quite worried about bird flu, the sensationalism of the media reports was not helping. You helped make this one clear, thanks.