Avian Flu - Washington State

[Amberjem]

http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/AvianHealth/AvianNPIP.aspx

 

[Mskayladog]

Fujian H5 (as H5N8 or H5N2) is a serious killer of domestic poultry (IVPI is 2.96 - 3.0) and will be increasingly common.  It is a game changer.

Niman, I have been following your site and another flu site for years. And have been worried about avaIn flu and my poultry. We covered the top of a little over half acre for our 26 hens but small sonG birds and other birds still manage to get into the run. Are the smaller wild birds carriers are just water fowl? I have never been clear on that.
I'm on high alert here in indiana.

Ebola, all the deaths this flu season from regular flu and now avaIn flu in the US of A

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you all for the info . I'll be following this thread.

 

[niman]

Niman, I have been following your site and another flu site for years. And have been worried about avaIn flu and my poultry. We covered the top of a little over half acre for our 26 hens but small sonG birds and other birds still manage to get into the run. Are the smaller wild birds carriers are just water fowl? I have never been clear on that.
I'm on high alert here in indiana.

Ebola, all the deaths this flu season from regular flu and now avaIn flu in the US of A

Fujian H5 can infect most avian species. The main difference is the response. In Taiwan there is a major outbreak in part because the domestic ducks were not symptomatic, but had a dramatic drop in egg production. The owners did not think the egg drop was due to Fujian H5 so they unsuccessfully tried to control.

There has been speculation that infection in farms with strong biosecurity is due to transport into barns by rodents or small birds.

Taiwan is heading for a major disaster

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/01121501/H5N8_Fujian_Taiwan_Global.html

 

[MiniCoop]

I'm worried about my few chickens. They have a covered run and coop, but free range in our backyard. We have flocks of geese fly over in the mornings and in the evenings, never landing in our backyard or the surrounding area. Can they spread the avian flu just by flying over your place? Can our dog bring it in from walks in the fields by Vancouver Lake? If I spray the dog's feet and our shoes with a bleach solution (1 tablespoon bleach to 1 gallon of water) will that work? Or do I need to keep the chickens totally separate from the dog's area? If anyone has any answers I'd really appreciate it.

 

[enola]

Personally, I would not take any walks around lakes, ponds or along creek banks, especially where there is water fowl.

 

[MiniCoop]

Unfortunately my husband will not take our lab for a walk down the road. He will keep him out of the water for now, but he does take him off leash to work him and let him run in fields. The geese and seagulls around here land in fields, school yards, anywhere there is open land. I am also very concerned about the geese flying over head. Do birds usually releave themselves when flying distances?

 

[Runamuckranch1]

The only symptom I see that was listed is the green droppings. I think I will take a sample in to the vet. Thanks for your reply.

 

[Cluckadoodledo]

PORT ANGELES — Avian flu has been found in a backyard flock of ducks, chickens and geese east of Port Angeles, and all the birds were destroyed.The H5N2 bird flu strain is not harmful to humans. But the disease is very contagious and deadly among birds, and the fear is that it could spread into commercially-raised chickens and turkeys. A ban on the movement of eggs, domestic poultry and poultry products within and outside of a 10 kilometer radius— 6.2 miles — likely will be placed Tuesday around the home at ** Cosmos Lane in the Agnew area, state Department of Agriculture spokesman Hector Castro said this morning.It wasn't done today, Castro said, because state offices were closed because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.An emergency order must be officially adopted by the state before a quarantine zone is established. Once it's established, state inspectors plan to go door-to-door in the area this week looking for sick or dead birds and voluntary testing of other flocks in the neighborhood.The home where the birds were located is owned by Sherry and Gary *****. Castro said Sherry ***** had alerted state officials after several of her birds got sick.Contacted by the Peninsula Daily News, she had no comment and referred all questions to state and federal officials.118 birds killedEight U.S. and state agriculture workers dressed in biohazard suits and masks euthanized 118 ducks, chicken and geese at *****'s home on Sunday after the domesticated fowl apparently were infected by wild birds, federal Department of Agriculture spokesman Dr. Alan Huddleston said.Avian flu does not affect meat or eggs, which are safe to eat.“There are no people with any illness related to [flu-infected] poultry anywhere,” state Department of Health spokesman Donn Moyer said.Clallam is the third county in Washington to report a case of avian influenza, joining Benton and Whatcom counties.About 700 chickens, turkeys, ducks and guinea fowl in two backyard flocks in the Tri-Cities area were affected by the outbreak earlier this month.Some of the birds died from the fast-acting H5N2 virus. The remaining birds were destroyed to prevent the disease's spread.Scientists are trying to determine whether the Tri-Cities outbreak was caused by the same H5N2 responsible for a December outbreak in southwest British Columbia, Canada, that led to nearly 250,000 chickens and turkeys being destroyed.A northern pintail duck in Whatcom County south of British Columbia tested positive for H5N2 in December. A mallard duck shot by a hunter in Eugene, Ore., also tested positive for N5N2.The H5N2 strain contains gene segments both from a deadly Eurasian avian flu and from avian flu more typically found in North America.Take protectionsState officials have said that it is important for backyard chicken and duck owners to keep their fowl separated from wild birds.Avian flu is usually carried by wild ducks and spreads from their feces.The state Department of Agriculture has ordered a quarantine of at least 240 days for a 20-mile zone in Benton and Franklin counties around the Tri-Cities properties with the infected flocks.The quarantine prohibits the movement of eggs, poultry and other poultry products outside the zone.A joint team of state and federal technicians worked to disinfect the two properties last week. Castro said that generally involves deep-cleaning equipment, but it can also require taking down outbuildings.The virus has not been detected in the state's commercial poultry operations or anywhere else in the U.S., state officials have said.But the Canadian government has banned imports of birds, raw poultry and poultry products from Washington and Oregon.China has also banned all U.S. poultry, eggs and poultry products.Backyard bird owners are urged to monitor their flock closely and report sick or dead birds to the WSDA Avian Health Program.

 

[Cluckadoodledo]

Upon reading about the recent Avian flu outbreaks in Washington and British Columbia, it got me thinking. Infected Geese and duck droppings were cited as a possible vector for the avian flu, yet British Columbia health officials said that the geese they tested were negative for the flu. Washington officials said the geese they tested six miles from the Canadian border tested positive for the flu. Washington health officials also stated that no commercial poultry operations have been affected with the avian flu, only backyard chickens. This puzzled me. So, I started searching and came across this interesting article written in 2006 about the Avian flu outbreak in Asia. This is a "must read" for the "backyard chicken" person in us all!
http://www.grain.org/article/entrie...ndustry-s-central-role-in-the-bird-flu-crisis