A Maryland chicken farm in Caroline County preliminarily tests positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza and Delmarva poultry owners are encouraged to take precautions.
This is the third season in a row that this particular strain of avian influenza has hit Delmarva, which Delaware State Veterinarian Karen Lopez says isn’t just unusual.
“This is the most devastating foreign animal disease outbreak, and persistent, long-standing loss of birds, cost to the United States, that we have ever seen in U.S. history," Lopez says.
Lopez says avian influenza is typically carried by waterfowl species like ducks, geese, and shorebirds that transmit it through nasal and eye secretion, feces, and feather dandruff to poultry like chickens, turkeys, and pheasants.
She adds it is imperative for farmers to follow biosafety procedures like cleaning and disinfecting equipment, wearing designated farm clothing and shoes, and using migratory bird deterrents.
Lopez says state or federal agriculture departments investigate every outbreak to try and determine how the disease was transmitted. She notes the infected Caroline County flock was depopulated, but says the recovery time for farmers that lose an entire flock can be devastating.
“Although they get indemnified for the birds themselves that they lost and the cleaning and disinfection and all of those things, they don’t get indemnified for the downtime that they face from that. Where they could have had a whole other flock that brings them in, I don’t know the exact amount but, whatever it is that they lose, and there is no way that they can get that back,” Lopez says.
Farmers should pay particular attention for signs of respiratory illness or distress, such as sneezing, gasping for air, coughing, and/or runny nose.
