Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been found at a commercial poultry facility in Pierce County, the first detection in commercial poultry in the US state of Washington this year. The Washington State Department of Agriculture and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department announced it in a joint release.
The facility is under quarantine and disease control measures are under way. Eggs from the affected birds will be destroyed and will not enter the food supply, the agencies said, and chicken and eggs from other farms remain safe to eat. State law protects information that could identify the farmer or the operation, so neither has been named.
Health departments, including the Washington State Department of Health, are monitoring workers who were exposed to infected birds as a precaution. No human cases have been identified at the facility so far, and the agencies say the risk to the general public remains low.
The virus has been circulating among wild and domestic birds in Washington, with detections in the state since 2022. In October the agriculture department confirmed it in three small backyard flocks in Yakima and Kittitas counties that had been exposed to migratory waterfowl. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is also reporting more deaths among wild migratory birds, which is often an early sign of risk to poultry.
State veterinarian Amber Itle gave keepers a plain instruction. "The most important thing you can do to protect your flock is to keep your birds away from wild waterfowl or shared environments including ponds," she said. Sudden illness or sudden death in a flock may be the first sign, she added, and owners should call the state's sick bird hotline at once. Workers and caretakers handling sick birds should wear protective equipment, to reduce exposure for animals and people alike.
The advice applies well beyond one county. A small flock that shares a pond with wild waterfowl carries the same kind of exposure the state described in Yakima and Kittitas.
Photo: Catherine Sarrosa / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Source: The Poultry Site
Comments
(0)