HEALTH First confirmed USA avian flu (a duck) in 5 years - 1/15/22

[Cyclonemom]

Duck is 1st wild bird flu case in U.S. in five years, scientists say

A duck killed by a hunter in South Carolina had a contagious and dangerous bird flu that has not been detected in the wild in the U.S. in five years, officials said.

www.ctvnews.ca

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A duck killed by a hunter in South Carolina had a contagious and dangerous bird flu that has not been detected in the wild in the U.S. in five years, officials said.
The flu poses a low risk to people but can spread quickly through chicken houses and other poultry businesses.

The Eurasian H5 avian influenza was first detected by Clemson University scientists and confirmed by federal testing, the school said in a news release.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture alerted global health officials. Scattered Eurasian H5 infections have been detected in 2022 from Portugal to Bulgaria and in December, two cases were reported in eastern Canada, officials said.
Anyone who has poultry, including backyard farms, needs to review their practices to keep birds safe from disease, said State Veterinarian Michael J. Neault, who runs Clemson University's Livestock Poultry Health program.

Those practices include thoroughly washing hands before and after handling wild and domesticated birds and using gloves and other protective gear when handling live birds.
Farmers should also keep their birds away from areas where geese and ducks roam, clean their cages and coops regularly and buy new birds from reputable sources and keep them away from the rest of the flock for 30 days, the university said.

"So far we have no indication that (the flu) has jumped from wild migratory birds to poultry and we'd very much like to keep it that way," Neault said in a statement.

 

[naegling62]

Ducks? Lock'em down boys! We're gonna need some tiny masks, remember they don't have ears to hold them on.

 

[Digger]

How did they know to test the duck?

 

[meandk0610]

How did they know to test the duck?

Maybe It was acting weird or the insides looked off. Sure would have been nice if they had included that part.

 

[PalmettoGirl]

 

[psychgirl]

How did they know to test the duck?

Beat me to it

 

[Peter]

Beat me to it

 

[Kathy in FL]

Lovely. Instead of turducken we must be looking at ...

birdflurona?

 

[L.A.B.]

Ducks? Lock'em down boys! We're gonna need some tiny masks, remember they don't have ears to hold them on.

Is it even possible for one to have all their ducks in a row?

 

[thompson]

The flu poses a low risk to people but can spread quickly through chicken houses and other poultry businesses.

And that would necessitate a big culling of poultry.

I'm usually the very last one to board the woo train, but the timing of this is just unbelievably bad.

 

[psychgirl]

And that would necessitate a big culling of poultry.

I'm usually the very last one to board the woo train, but the timing of this is just unbelievably bad.

Isn’t it, though?

 

[glennb6]

let me guess... it was a Peking Duck

 

[philkar]

Oh no! Not the bird flu. Guess I will have to load the girls up for a road trip if they come to get them.

 

[Cyclonemom]

Sorry, had to step away for a kiddo with a bloody nose (it's extra dry and cold here).

Yes, the bird flu raging through chicken and poultry facilities is of great concern.

Iirc, 500,000 birds were culled in Britain.




Found Reference here from Dec 9, 2021 :

Britain suffers largest ever bird flu outbreak - minister

Britain is experiencing it worst ever outbreak of bird flu, farming and environment minister George Eustice told parliament on Thursday. "This year we are seeing the largest-ever outbreak of avian influenza in the UK," he told the House of Commons, adding that there had been 36 confirmed...

news.yahoo.com

Snippet:
Britain's Chief Vet Christine Middlemiss told BBC Radio on Thursday that around 500,000 birds had been culled as a result of the outbreaks.

The highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu was confirmed at premises in North Yorkshire and South Suffolk on Wednesday following a string of outbreaks in different locations dating back to Oct. 27, when the strain was found at a rescue centre in Worcestershire.

All birds on infected premises are culled.


A nationwide Avian Influenza Prevention Zone was declared in England on Nov. 3, ordering farms and bird keepers to toughen biosecurity measures.

 

[Babs]

Yes, Thompson, the timing couldn't be worse. Also, I was just ready to make a chicken order for the new homestead.

 

[energy_wave]

Lovely. Instead of turducken we must be looking at ...

birdflurona?

Ducrona variant.

 

[ainitfunny]

Remember, a pressure cooker, canner, boiling or just plain cooking thoroughly, kills any flu/e-coli/listeria etc. germs in a duck!

Or, in a chicken, or any other livestock.
Meaning, it makes it edible.

 

[DazedandConfused]

Worth keeping a eye on this.. May need to step-up cleaning of coop and run with bleach water once a week. My flock is fully enclosed and there is very little interaction and mingling with wild birds. Normally I spray down everything twice a year just too help kill off anything that may become a problem.

 

[meandk0610]

Worth keeping a eye on this.. May need to step-up cleaning of coop and run with bleach water once a week. My flock is fully enclosed and there is very little interaction and mingling with wild birds. Normally I spray down everything twice a year just too help kill off anything that may become a problem.

Just curious, do they have a run? If so, how do you control for droppings from wild birds? I’m trying to plan just in case it spreads and they start telling people to keep their birds inside.

 

[Tonic]

We show poultry and cross state lines frequently. All exhibition poultry is required to be tested for Typoid and Pullorium in order to enter a show, nation wide. Neither disease has been found in years. Some states require your flock is monitored for H1N1 in order to enter a show. Our flock is tested every 6 mo. There are many diseases in poultry. Exposure creates immunity so insulation from the outside world is not the solution. We lost birds after a show once but those birds did not originate from our area and had no resistance to common germs here. This is all more fear mongering. Get those lights on your birds and let’s get hatching!

 

[Melodi]

I had to spend several hundred Euros on an emergency chicken shed that my housemate could put up inside of a closed outbuilding right after Nightwolf died because all of Ireland's poultry were ordered indoors - this includes the birds at the Dublin Zoo and even normally "free-range" hens.

The strain over here is not much of a danger to humans (except on rare occasions if someone is working closely with the animals) but I'm not sure if the one in the US is the same one.

I figured the one here would eventually get to North America because we have wild geese that fly back and forth from Ireland to Canada every year - one of our friends had a wild drake who mated with one of his farm geese. Every year the male would take off at migration time and every year he came back and asked to go into the big poultry run with his "wife."

If this is the same strain, folks in North America may also be forced to lock up any poultry they wish to keep alive for a few months.

 

[philkar]

I had to spend several hundred Euros on an emergency chicken shed that my housemate could put up inside of a closed outbuilding right after Nightwolf died because all of Ireland's poultry were ordered indoors - this includes the birds at the Dublin Zoo and even normally "free-range" hens.

The strain over here is not much of a danger to humans (except on rare occasions if someone is working closely with the animals) but I'm not sure if the one in the US is the same one.

I figured the one here would eventually get to North America because we have wild geese that fly back and forth from Ireland to Canada every year - one of our friends had a wild drake who mated with one of his farm geese. Every year the male would take off at migration time and every year he came back and asked to go into the big poultry run with his "wife."

If this is the same strain, folks in North America may also be forced to lock up any poultry they wish to keep alive for a few months.

So Melodi was your run also inside?

 

[Melodi]

So Melodi was your run also inside?

I had to get a new house and run that we could build inside the outbuilding because they had been sleeping in an outbuilding at night and free-roaming during the day.

I gather their own house had fallen apart (Nightwolf didn't tell me) and he just moved them into the building - that building was very small (old turf shed) and the nice chicken house plus small run I got on a Black Friday sale was too big for it. So my housemate cleared out an area of the old jewelry company workshop and put the new one together in there. We move the tomato light down for them, so they have light and are laying eggs - they also have the small attached "run" which is also totally inside the building.

When the lift restrictions I'll order the larger version of the same set up for outdoors, now that we know it works and after putting chicken wire on the bottom of the run that the chickens can't get out and the cats can not get in.

I have three old hens and one rooster and we get one or two eggs a day during the Winter which is plenty for the two of us.

 

[philkar]

I had to get a new house and run that we could build inside the outbuilding because they had been sleeping in an outbuilding at night and free-roaming during the day.

I gather their own house had fallen apart (Nightwolf didn't tell me) and he just moved them into the building - that building was very small (old turf shed) and the nice chicken house plus small run I got on a Black Friday sale was too big for it. So my housemate cleared out an area of the old jewelry company workshop and put the new one together in there. We move the tomato light down for them, so they have light and are laying eggs - they also have the small attached "run" which is also totally inside the building.

When the lift restrictions I'll order the larger version of the same set up for outdoors, now that we know it works and after putting chicken wire on the bottom of the run that the chickens can't get out and the cats can not get in.

I have three old hens and one rooster and we get one or two eggs a day during the Winter which is plenty for the two of us.

TY

 

[DazedandConfused]

Just curious, do they have a run? If so, how do you control for droppings from wild birds? I’m trying to plan just in case it spreads and they start telling people to keep their birds inside.

Dropping from wild birds could fall thru the top netting I just don't see a lot. Worst case I can keep them locked up in their coop.

 

[philkar]

I have to think about all of this. We have a huge open run and we have 2 small runs that are covered with top netting. Got to rethink all of that. We keep one run sown in something green during the winter and rotate them. Having a lid on everything will definitely limit tractor access for tilling. And if there is no electricity it will be hard to keep lights on them. Hard but not impossible. Life will definitely change even more than it has for us.