Can someone set me straight about avian flu?

[Hatrick]

Can my birds get it? If they get it it means I can get it, right? How do I make sure they don't get it? Please set me straight!!

 

[SallyF]

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/facts.htm

Try this website.

 

[wombat]

Yes, birds can get avian flu. It is not common in the US. Yes, humans can get avian flu from birds, though this is even more rare, especially in the US.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/what-know-about-bird-flu

 

[Nif]

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/

Here's WHO's website (World Health Organization) They have a tracking program going on. As long as you don't live in Indonesia you shouldn't have to worry.

 

[robin416]

The comment that Avian flu is not common in this or any other country is incorrect. There are many types of Avian flu, most are not reportable, a few that require quarantine and a couple that requires culling of the flock.

Chances are that if our flocks were blood tested for antibodies for the different flu strains they would come back positive.

As to contracting flu from our birds, the chances of that happening are so small that its not even worth thinking about. Be more afraid of sharing a room with another human or the food in your super market.

 

[Hatrick]

Thank you.

With three little kids I'm already completely neurotic so it's easy to let stuff get away from you...now if I could just not worry about swine flu...

 

[BarnCoopGirl]

I'm with ya!

I have small kids aswell and I'm paranoided!

Thanks for posting the topic!

 

[Wifezilla]

Joel Slatin in his book "Everything I want to do is illegal" mentions the bird flu. As he noted, there was an outbreak in the US, BUT...

• It happened at a large factory type farm
• There was no sign in any nearby small flocks
• There was no sign in any of the wild bird populations

http://books.google.com/books?id=YV...3#v=onepage&q=bird flu "joel salatin"&f=false

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

I got a little yellow trifold flyer in Madison WI during the coop tour from the US dept of biosecurity. That little flyer was a very good reminder to protect our birds from OUR germs, not the other way around. All flu virus is avian. Potentially, we could give it to our chickens after a day at work or school where we picked it up. DH reminded the kids to stop kissing the birds on the head, because now its flu season and we don't want any sick chickens.

 

[wombat]

Quote:
Well, there are lots of avian flus. The ones showing potential to cross from birds to humans have not been commonly found here, from what I've read. I was assuming that was what the OP meant.