Visitors have Mareks in their flock...will my flock be protected? Bio security.

[Bocktobery 10]

We had some surprise visitors today. I learned while they were here that they have Mareks disease in their flock. I’m wondering if I have to be concerned about transmission to my flock through their shoes. I free-range my flock and our visitors have walked in the areas where my chickens will freerange. Should I be concerned about transmission and is there anything I can do to protect my flock?

 

[Folly's place]

If they were wearing clothes and shoes that were NOT worn at home without washing them first, that's not best. I hope that they were careful about bringing diseases from their flock to yours!
I'm paranoid about biosecurity, and either won't have visitors here who have chickens, or have them wear totally clean clothes and shoes before coming over.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Many flock owners, especially if they are in the NPIP program, allow no visitors. It's good policy!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

I have 'barn shoes' and barn boots', and they stay on the farm!
Mary

 

[EggSighted4Life]

We had some surprise visitors today. I learned while they were here that they have Mareks disease in their flock. I’m wondering if I have to be concerned about transmission to my flock through their shoes. I free-range my flock and our visitors have walked in the areas where my chickens will freerange. Should I be concerned about transmission and is there anything I can do to protect my flock?

Ugh, I would say yes, I would be concerned at least some.

Is your flock vaccinated against Marek's? What are there ages? How far away does this surprise visitor live from you?

To protect your flock... maybe ask visitors to check their shoes at the door and change their clothes after visiting with their flock and before coming to your house... (maybe make them change to your clothes out in the garage before entering) or ask them kindly not to come back, especially unannounced.. or maybe meet your friends with chickens at a mutual location explaining your VALID concerns about bio-security... and DON'T let them in your chicken area.. I KNOW how much fun it can be to share our flocks with folks who are also excited about them and love poultry too! But I've seen how devastated folks who see disease ravage their flock are also.

Hopefully there will be no fallout at all and this will just be GREAT wake up call... Did your friend get their Marek's diagnosis confirmed via necropsy.. or just presume due to and incident... as MANY things including viral Leukosis and encephalitis, etc can look the same. Sorry for asking but I'm a detail type person and have a hard time just taking folks at their word without my own understanding.. a protective mechanism that serves me well sometimes but not others.

FWIW.. it takes at LEAST 3 weeks AFTER exposure before ANY symptoms will appear. It is less likely to cause paralysis if your birds DO catch it and are older not younger. Good resource for Marek's info..
Marek's Virus FAQ

Oddly enough.. getting educated about Marek's has helped keep me calm and not panic during COVID.

Best thing you can do now... after the fact... keep nutrition high and balanced using a formulated ration.. to support the birds immune system.. not diminishing with treats... I prefer grower or flock raiser with oyster shell free choice on the side for active layers... as they are higher in both protein but more importantly amino acids.. Also standard monthly external parasite check after dark using a flashlight for the clearest picture and treatment IF needed. A fecal float count a couple time per year if you're not already familiar with YOUR internal parasite load.. be sure and treat what you have but not what you don't.. only large round worms and tape worms will ever be seen in droppings as all others stay in the intestines and only the microscopic oocysts (eggs) will be passed to never be seen by the naked eye. Please note despite seeing ALL the symptom folks will swear is worms.. my fecal floats have confirmed otherwise and I have YET to need treatment at MY current location, with MY stock density, MY soil type, MY weather, and MY wildlife load, etc... for example.. If I just treated all those times it would have been a waste.

Again these things I mention are all about supporting the birds own immune system to be in peak condition to fight off anything coming their way. NO supplement should be given more than 10 days in row without veterinary supervision.

Please note that I am very uptight about things like this as I have invested far too much financially and time wise into my flock to be able to take a major hit.. it's not simply a few feed store birds, which I know will hurt folks heart tremendously.. but thousand(s) of dollars (and man hours) would not be an exaggeration in addition to the heartache that would ensue. (might be why my suggestions seem extreme)

Again.. hope it doesn't come around and try to catch y'all!

 

[Bocktobery 10]

Many flock owners, especially if they are in the NPIP program, allow no visitors. It's good policy!
Mary

It wasn’t my choice. They just showed up. Being related to family, it would have caused problems to ask them to leave. I’m also angry they ignored lockdown and the fact myself and another family member are in the “high risk” group.

I also have barn boots (shoes) and they stay on the farm. I doubt these people do.

Anything I can do post potential exposure? In conversation, I tried to get it across to them that Mareks is serious awful disease that is contagious. They didn’t seem to care. They are like, “oh well, it’s just a chicken. We’ll get more”.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

There was no actual confirmation. The older chicks they just got started showing signs. They contacted the seller and the seller said it was most likely Mareks. So hopefully, maybe, it’s something else. No deaths yet but these older chicks they bought because of the covid panic arexhibiting difficulty walking- seemingly no injury.

i didn’t let them in the chicken area.. but they did walk in areas my birds frequently go when free-ranged. My birds were not out today due to weather.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

I forgot to say also...all my free ranged flock are older than 3 years. Most of them are past 5 years of age (and remarkably still lay lots of eggs for me). I do know I have a few that are not vaccinated but I’m unsure about most. (I assume they were because of the place where I bought them from. He’s a big time chicken person who gives yearly seminars on chicken health, so I just assumed they were set. I don’t think he’d be one not to purchase unvaccinated chicks to sell, but I could be wrong. Some others came from a big time breeder. I bought them years ago, and at that time I did not know about vaccinations.)

I also have two more flocks which do not freerange. I guess if I just put on the barn shoes right before entering this would be safe? ...that is, I don’t walk with my barn shoes those areas where these visitors walked. ?

 

[NatJ]

I do not know if you have to worry.

Your thought about not walking where the visitors walked makes sense.

Would it help to keep your birds penned up for a few days before you let them range again? Any germs would have to be on the clothes/shoes of the visitors, then transfer to something at your place, then transfer to your birds. A few days of sunshine/rain/weather might let more germs die, leaving less germs to potentially reach to your birds.

 

[Bocktobery 10]

I do not know if you have to worry.

Your thought about not walking where the visitors walked makes sense.

Would it help to keep your birds penned up for a few days before you let them range again? Any germs would have to be on the clothes/shoes of the visitors, then transfer to something at your place, then transfer to your birds. A few days of sunshine/rain/weather might let more germs die, leaving less germs to potentially reach to your birds.

This is what a I’m hoping for.. pathogens dying with some time, but I read online a space of land that had a flock with Mareks might still spread the virus up to 5 years later. I know this is not my land that’s eluding to, and certainly the number of possible pathogens would be less as to compared with a space where a flock with Mareks lived for quite some time. But how long could Mareks carried on shoes, transferred to my land be infectious? I think a I’ll be giving the state agriculture a phone call come Monday. Hopefully they are open. They weren’t a couple weeks ago.