
Highly pathogenic avian influenza has come back with a vengeance on Delmarva.
There are at least six cases of HPAI on area broiler farms, with cases reported in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
Extension educators and state officials are beating the drum to tighten up biosecurity, saying it is the first and best defense farmers have to prevent an outbreak. Georgie Cartanza, Extension poultry educator for the University of Delaware, posted a YouTube video last week on footbaths and footwear.
In the video, she stresses that farmers place footbaths in different areas of the farm and wear separate shoes for entering different areas. Probably most important is to have shoes you can quickly put on and take off. This helps create consistency, she says, so anyone entering and exiting a poultry house, for example, will know what shoes to slip on and off, and can do it quickly.
If you have larger feet, she says, use a shoehorn to help do it quickly.
Outbreak is widespread
Forty-eight commercial poultry flocks representing 11.16 million birds have tested positive over the past 30 days, according to USDA.
Ohio has had nine positive cases representing 1.2 million birds, and Michigan has had six cases representing 344,000 birds.
Outbreaks not only affect farms that have tested positive, but also neighboring farms that must adhere to quarantine orders to prevent community spread.
Katharine Parry and her husband raise more than 1 million broilers a year in six houses on their farm in Hartly, Delaware.
“We personally have been affected in our area,” she says. “Two of the outbreaks in Delaware are in very close proximity to us, the second one being our close personal friends.”
Her farm is in the quarantine zone for both farms, and as a result, they haven’t had a flock placed since the end of December. The farm was scheduled to get another flock Jan. 7, but the quarantine hasn’t been lifted, and it is unclear when it will be.
Parry says her integrator has told her they would be compensated for not placing birds, but, “Ultimately, we don't know exactly what that looks like, so ultimately it affects us financially. Some other farms, it's a husband-and-wife team, and that's their only source of income. That's certainly very scary in that situation."
Parry and her husband also raise 30 beef cows as part of a cow-calf operation and some row crops, so they have diversified. The fact that there is a separate HPAI strain affecting cows also has her concerned. But being in quarantine also allows her time to look at things from a different perspective. She and her husband are spending more time with their children — 8 and 3 — and just booked a last-minute trip to Disney World.
“Last year was busy,” she says. “We got to the beach for just three days, so we are spending some more time together. But we’re also reevaluating our biosecurity protocols, too, and taking some time to fix things on the farm that might have been on the back burner.”
Parry urges farmers who have neighbors affected by the outbreak to be supportive.
"If you have a neighbor that is going through this, be there to support them,” she says. “Hold them up during this time because I can't even imagine what they're going through.”
Biosecurity tips and resources
There is much more to poultry house biosecurity than just wearing the right shoes. Here is a YouTube video on tips for cleaning and sanitizing equipment:
Here’s some other biosecurity tips from the University of Delaware:
Limit, monitor and record any movement of people, vehicles or animals on or off your farm.
Permit only essential workers and vehicles to enter the farm to limit the chances of bringing the virus from an outside source.
Avoid visiting other poultry farms and any unnecessary travel off the farm.
Disinfect equipment, vehicles, footwear and other items that come into contact with flocks.
Keep your flock away from wild or migratory birds, especially waterfowl.
Isolate any ill animals and contact your veterinarian.
For dairy farms, Cornell University offers the following tips:
Pause or cancel nonessential farm visits.
Assign a biosecurity manager to monitor the situation and develop a farm-specific biosecurity plan.
Notify a vet if cows present symptoms such as discolored milk, decreased rumination and fever.
Report findings of odd behaviors, and increased numbers of dead wild birds, cats, skunks or raccoons.
Avoid importing cattle from affected farms.
Discourage wild birds from entering farms, waterers and feed sources.
Clean and disinfect waterers daily.
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