With the autumn migration under way, US federal officials are reminding livestock and poultry producers to stay alert for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, Michigan Ag Today reported.
"We're at the beginning of the fall migratory season. And this time of year, we always anticipate an uptick just as migratory birds are moving through the environment," said USDA Under Secretary Dudley Hoskins. "They're a natural vector to transmit and spread High-Path throughout the country and every single flyway in the United States." He said new detections continue to appear in both poultry flocks and dairy operations. "We've seen it in zoo animals. We've seen it obviously in wildlife."
Hoskins asked producers to watch their animals closely for signs of illness, limit unnecessary visitors and vehicle traffic, and keep livestock and poultry from contact with wild birds wherever possible.
He also asked farmers to spread the message beyond their own gates: "that's a place where we really ask our producer partners to help educate, not just the people that come onto their premises about biosecurity, but really people outside the farm gate and what they can do to minimize or reduce inadvertent spread or transmission."
Producers who see unusual illness or more deaths than normal in a herd or flock should contact their veterinarian or animal health officials promptly, USDA said, adding that continued vigilance and strong biosecurity remain critical to protecting the country's livestock and poultry industries through the migration season.
Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Michigan Ag Today
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