Avian Flu Update

[Guest guest]

I heard some disturbing news for some of us

chicken people yesterday. It seems the USDA are inspecting

chicken flocks in the US for the avian flu now. This is just north

of where we are .. they are inspecting backyard chickens as well

as commercial operations. Arrrghh.

Sounds like the wild birds aren't so much the problem as

people and trucks ... I wonder how long the virus can live

on truck tires? I was told by a goat person that the biggest

problem she had with diseases came from showing livestock

at the fair ... sounds like " live poultry markets " are a problem

too (not that I know of any of those around here). Well, we

are pretty isolated ... it sounds like THIS version of the flu

is pretty fatal to the flock but not to people. There is another

they found in PA which causes few symptoms to the chickens, but if

they find antibodies to it they destroy the flock.

-- Heidi Jean

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/story.html?id=1ed636d9-bc34-4f3\

f-bd35-bcf32a1e75e1

Sandboe said officials aren't so much worried about the virus being carried by

wild birds as by people who may have had contact with B.C. farms.

" Trucks, equipment that might have... come across the border, anyone whose been

on a poultry farm in B.C., " she said.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2001914538 & zs\

ection_id=2001780260 & slug=birdflu28 & date=20040428

Federal agricultural officials are knocking on doors in northern Whatcom County,

just south of the Canadian border, in an attempt to locate backyard chickens and

head off a possible outbreak of bird flu in Washington.

The effort comes as officials announced that avian flu has been detected among

British Columbia chickens less than 600 yards north of the border, near Lynden,

Whatcom County, U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Larry Hawkins said.

No cases of the disease have been found in Washington state. This strain of

avian flu isn't a big threat to people, but it can wipe out commercial flocks,

as it has in parts of British Columbia.

Several major chicken producers operate in Whatcom County.

Hawkins said about 32 animal-health technicians and veterinarians, and 15

administrative staffers from the USDA are in the Lynden area visiting farms and

rural homes in a 34-mile-wide swath of the county from the border to 10 miles

south.

Bird-flu warning

The bird flu that's been found just north of Whatcom County is deadly to

chickens but isn't a big threat to humans. In some cases, experts think, the

disease has been transmitted to humans through direct contact with chickens. It

can't be transmitted by eating cooked meat from infected birds.

Hawkins said officials already know the location of commercial chicken growers

in the region but want to identify where families are keeping chickens for their

own use. The goal is to help contain an outbreak should the disease be detected

in the state.

Officials emphasized the measures are preventive.

Avian flu was diagnosed earlier this year among poultry farther north in British

Columbia, where some 19 million chickens have been ordered slaughtered to

prevent the disease's spread. The slaughter is still in progress.

The flu strain is different from one that has killed two dozen people in Asia,

officials said.