HEADS UP AVIAN INFLUENZA ALERT

[MrsBachbach]

Yes seriously! OMG! Someone thinks different than you! They must be the stupid hillbilly talking about the glowing green light in the field last night on the news!

I am fairly positive most of your attempt at sounding cute was directed at me since I was the last one to mention this and seem the most convinced. So, I will just throw in a reminder that I VERY CLEARLY said that turkeys and eggs was a strange choice unless it was sonething like the animal rights type attacks which would make sense.

The way this appears to be spreading seems highly suspect. And you know...the Westboro Baptist church is horrible but they didn't cause the planes to fly into the twin towers. Just because something is absolutely horrible (factory farming) doesn't mean it's the cause of everything bad in the world (the avian flu outbreak).

And just for the record, do you have any idea how many food products contain eggs in some variation? Beef isn't the be all end all of the food industry. Eggs are a cheap and much used source of protein and so much more. Just sayin'.

I'm sure it's not the cause of everything horrible in the world, but in this instance, I think the battery farms ARE the source of the HIGHLY pathogenic strains of the bird flu. They would never admit to such a thing though. But there is a reason they kill everything on the farm when it is found. It's because they KNOW viruses have the ability to mutate quickly when large numbers are present. This virus likely started years ago as a low pathogenic strain in a battery farm in Asia and mutated in those flocks to what it is today. Wild birds may be spreading it, but I'm thinking they didn't create it.

 

[MrsBachbach]

anyone following this thread... https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/990599/destruction-and-disposal-orders-help they almost had there flock destroyed because they bought hatching eggs from an infected farm... this infected farm has sold hatching eggs and birds to 75% of the US, infecting states that didnt even have AI...

it can happen to anyone!

A good reason to dip your eggs in a sanitizing solution before incubating I would think. I know it doesn't harm hatch rates at all if done properly. I know there are disinfectants out there that kill many viruses, even AI.

 

[enola]

But, what if the virus is inside the egg?

 

[thegawd]

or just resist the urge to bring in any eggs or birds... work with what you have. its not going to matter if you sterilize your eggs or not when it comes to traceability if you bring in anything from an infected farm, your still going to be placed under quarantine at the very least.

 

[MrsBachbach]

http://m.tucson.com/news/blogs/bird...11e5-93ad-0f4f808e1199.html?mobile_touch=true


here's a farm that tested positive which has shipped eggs and birds to 75% of the U.S. spreading the virus to states that didnt have it.

and for the record Aliens are real ;-)

stay safe.

Glad I hatch my own. I wonder if this was a large commercial operation or hatchery? Hmmm...who operates in Iowa I wonder. It's quite concerning. 75% of the country...that's huge.

 

[MrsBachbach]

But, what if the virus is inside the egg?

I dont' think it is. I think it's carried on the outside. If inside, the chick likely would expire early. And if inside, what's the risk to a farm then?

 

[thegawd]

infected chickens supposedly wont lay... cuz they die more or less. but other species like waterfowl wont show any symptoms and can still lay. an infected embryo does terminate early. but its exterior contamination from feces, dander a sneeze that can actually spread ai on an egg. the bird that laid the egg might not be infected yet but a bird next to it could be... then you touch it, touch your shirt, table whatever, place the eggs in the incubator or under a broody then go tend to the rest of your flock contaminating everything. then your done. its very simple really. And if its inside the egg its definitely outside the egg as well. even to sterilize the egg would transmit it around.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

The virus is not found inside the eggs. It is a respiratory virus and can only survive in respiratory epithelium (within a living bird). Some of the low path Influenza viruses (such as the case in some wild waterfowl) is found as an enteric or gastrointestinal virus. Even so, it wouldn't survive in the repro tract and would only be found on the outside of the eggs.

I think the panic this time around with the AI cases is due to a tremendous amount of misinformation about the virus itself and the way viruses spread in generally. This virus has been endemic in wild birds for a long, long, long time. The strain here IS NOT the same as the virus found in Asia. North America has their own influenza. However, as someone else mentioned, all influenza viruses have the ability to reassort at amazing speeds. This is the same reason it is so difficult to predict which flu vaccines are needed each year for people. For example, a chicken flock could be infected with a low path variant in the beginning of the week and it can mutate to high path within that same flock by the end of the week. This is why all birds that test positive are culled, whether high or low path.

Testing is done because low path in chickens can look like pretty much every other disease in chickens. Newcastle, infectious bronchitis, and many other diseases are common differentials in cases of suspected avian flu cases.

The vet school actually just sent out an email looking for students for an HPAI response team that is being put together by a company in the Midwest. I am so tempted to join, but I already have other work commitments for this summer. It sounds very interesting though, as they are doing mostly farm visits and other tasks for the USDA.

 

[chicknmania]

Not so much resisting the urge to bring in birds, we just need some more hens, we lost a couple due to Marek's last winter and early spring. I'm just saying that if this crap keeps going, we're NEVER going to be able to get any....from anywhere besides our own, that is. We could always incubate, but I just don't want the hassle of straight run. And let's face it, part of the fun of keeping chickens is getting new breeds once in a while.

It just blows my mind though, that someone would order birds or eggs or anything, from anywhere, without doing some research as to the possibility that those birds, eggs, or whatever might come from an area that has been documented as having cases of the virus. I guess it's one thing if they ordered before the virus became an issue, but it started up in the northwest last fall, so...

Just goes back to that common sense thing again.....

 

[TherryChicken]

Is this illness just in birds or can us humans catch it too like with the swine flu?