I still think it's the feed. Surely they disinfect the water. These commercial operations have very high bio security measures yet they are the ones getting hit the most.
How are the backyard flocks around these infected commercial flocks faring? If it was indeed airborne, would they also not be hit?
I wonder exactly how many birds are found infected in these operations. I know if they even find one, the whole operation is culled, so numbers can be deceiving. Their concern is rapid transmission because of the density of birds in such operations and more concerning how quickly something can mutate when there are such large numbers involved. The risk of mutation is low in sparsely populated backyard flocks although spread very likely is just as easy.
My other concern is what is being done with infected carcasses? Are they being processed into the food chain? Pet foods? More concerning is what is happening to the litter in these operations? By products, from what I have read, includes chicken litter. My dog seems to love chicken poop, ugh. More worrying is farmers use chicken and turkey litter to spread on fields to fertilize ground. That is definitely a method of spread right there. What is happening to the litter? Because that is a bunch of poop to dispose of.
