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Twin Tiers Living

On The Frontline Against Bird Flu, Egg Farmers Fear They're Losing The Battle

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The stress of watching tens of thousands of sick birds die of avian flu each day, while millions of others wait to be euthanized, kept everyone awake.

In April 2024, as his first hens tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1, Herbruck turned to the tried and true USDA playbook, the "stamping out" strategy that helped end the 2014-2015 bird flu outbreak, which was the largest in the US until now.

Within 24-48 hours of the first detection of the virus, state and federal animal health officials work with farms to cull infected flocks to reduce the risk of transmission. That's followed by extensive disinfection and months of surveillance and testing to make sure the virus isn't still lurking somewhere on site.

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Since then, egg farms have had to invest millions of dollars into biosecurity. Employees shower in and shower out, before they start working and after their shifts ends to prevent spreading the virus.

But none of that has been enough to contain the outbreak that started three years ago.

This time, the risk to human health is only growing, experts say. Sixty-six of the 68 total human cases in the United States have been just since March, including the first human death in this country earlier this month.

"The last six months have accelerated my concern, which was already high," said Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious diseases physician and the founding director of Boston University's Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

 

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How concerned are you about the effects of avian flu in your life?

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Amy Barkley is a livestock specialist with the Southwest New York Dairy Livestock and Field Crops program and an expert for the avian influenza outbreak for Cornell. She also has her own poultry farm and said she worries about the recent spread of avian flu.

"Honestly any farm that has poultry, whether you're large scale commercial, small scale commercial like me, or backyard, if you have poultry, you are susceptible, and if those birds have access to the outdoors, they're even more susceptible," she said.

Barkley said this is a high-risk time of year as we head into migration season, so she advises anyone who comes into contact with birds to practice biosecurity.

"What we can control is transmitting the disease from one farm to another, from one homestead to another, and so we can take steps like changing our footwear in between visiting different facilities,” she said. “We can even restrict ourselves from visiting different facilities."

 

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On 2/2/2025 at 10:01 AM, Twin Tiers Living said:

How concerned are you about the effects of avian flu in your life?

As far as the effects this could have on our layers, yeah, of course I'm concerned. It's nearly impossible to have a home flock and not have them exposed in some way to wild birds. 

Speaking of the wild birds, I'm also concerned for the local wild bird population as well. Reading about dead Snow Geese on Seneca Lake isn't something to take lightly. 

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I used to think the whole Avian Influenza thing was just a problem for commercial producers but with the Snow geese I too am starting to worry about the backyard flocks . As to how to slow this thing down, it going to take locking down the flock altogether and not letting anyone else in your chicken yard . I watched a program a while ago where a food processor installed a showering device on the entrance to the plant , not to shower the employees but just before they were to pass through it so their boots were rinsed with a solution of some sort . On a much smaller scale I think rinsing one’s boots before entering the chicken coop or yard is at least a start or attempt at stopping this from hitting your flock . I mean , what is the cost of a plastic tray and some bleach ( at the least ) as compared to losing your whole flock ?! 

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This is one of the reasons that, when people over the years have asked if I would take some birds off of their hands, the answer it always "no." Bio-security, even for a backyard coop, is important. Although with them free ranging, they're going to pick up whatever is out there anyway on their own. 

I recall being at a farm in Vermont where, before you walked into the main barn, which was the entrance to the rest of the operation, you walked through a shallow tray with a solution to kill anything on your shoes you may be dragging in. 

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2 hours ago, Hal said:

I used to think the whole Avian Influenza thing was just a problem for commercial producers

Well when you have thousands of birds crammed into one or two barns, it certainly isn't a healthy practice from the get-go. It's not natural, and you're practially begging for problems. 

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