Poultry manufacturers, bird owners need to beware after HPAI case – Daily Leader

By Robert Nathan Gregory

MSU Extension Service

STARKVILLE– The Mississippi Board of Animal Health is asking yard bird owners to be watchful in their biosecurity treatments after a business breeder chicken flock in Lawrence County evaluated favorable for extremely pathogenic bird influenza, or HPAI.

The U.S. Department of Farming National Veterinary Providers Lab validated the case to the Mississippi Board of Animal Health, or MBAH, Nov. 5. Samples from the flock were evaluated at the Mississippi Veterinary Research Study and Diagnostic Lab in Pearl and validated at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Examination Service National Veterinary Providers Laboratories in Ames, Iowa.

HPAI is an extremely infectious type of bird influenza that can eliminate whole flocks of contaminated poultry. The infection can take place naturally in wild marine birds and can be infected poultry.

The infection does not present a food security danger; poultry items prepared to an internal temperature level of a minimum of 165 degrees are still safe to consume. Nevertheless, quick spread can close down industrial and yard operations.

MBAH State Vet Jim Watson stated his firm has actually quarantined the afflicted website and is dealing with the poultry market to increase monitoring of flocks throughout the state.

” Birds on the residential or commercial property have actually been depopulated to avoid the spread of the illness and will not go into the food system,” Watson stated. “Anybody included with poultry production from the little yard to the big industrial manufacturer need to examine their biosecurity activities to guarantee the health of their birds.”

MBAH notes the following signs for contaminated birds: coughing, sneezing, incoordination, diarrhea, nasal discharge, unexpected death, reduced egg production, absence of energy or cravings, soft-shelled or misshapen eggs, and swelling or purple staining of head, eyelids, comb or hocks.

Jessica Wells, a poultry professional with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, stated biosecurity is the essential to avoiding the illness’s spread. There are numerous actions manufacturers need to take, consisting of cleaning hands prior to and after leaving chicken locations. Do not recycle any litter or feed from a believed website for usage as fertilizer or for any other function.

” As soon as bird influenza has actually gone into a poultry flock, it can spread out quickly on the farm by both the fecal-oral path and the breathing path due to the distance of the birds,” Wells stated. “Things like clothing, shoes and devices likewise transfer the illness, so shoes designated solely for the chicken location and altering clothing prior to getting in are necessary.”

Do not manage dead birds with bare hands. To get rid of dead birds from a poultry location, turn 2 plastic bags completely, get the bird and invert and seal the doubled bag with the bird inside.

” To get rid of the bird, put the bag in a family garbage can or bury it utilizing a shovel without touching it,” Watson stated. “To save a dead bird for screening, usage clear plastic bags to get and save the animal, and location it on ice bags up until it can be cooled.”

Yard bird owners can report any ill or passing away birds utilizing the Board of Animal Health web website at https://agnet.mdac.ms.gov/MBAHReportableDiseases/publicreportingform or utilize the MBAH animal catastrophe hotline at 1-888-646-8731.

See the MBAH bird influenza regularly asked concerns database at https://hpai.ms.gov/information/frequently-asked-questions/ and speak with MSU Extension poultry publications to learn more at http://extension.msstate.edu/avian-flu.