Reports of avian influenza, or bird flu, in Tennessee and Alabama — including a case in nearby Pickens County — are something Mississippi chicken growers should be keeping a watchful eye on, said Tom Tabler, a professor of Poultry Science for the Mississippi State University Extension Service.
Tabler, who has written extensively on the subject based on his research at MSU, is well-versed on bird flu.
Debbie Lawrence, who has been keeping chickens on her property in Caledonia for about seven years, confessed she is not that familiar with the disease, although she has done “a little research online.”
“I kind of hate to talk about it, because I don’t know a lot,” said Lawrence, who keeps 13 chickens in a backyard pen across the street from her business, Bloomers Nursery. “I’m very careful, I think. I don’t sell chickens and don’t plan to bring in any new ones right now. I just tend to my little flock and don’t visit other flocks because I’ve heard the flu can be transported that way.
“I don’t keep bird feeders out back where my chickens are because I’ve heard that wild birds can spread it,” she said.
If she were one of his students, Tabler would give Lawrence a pretty good grade.
“She’s definitely done her homework,” Tabler said.
Cause for concern
The most recent cases of bird flu demonstrate the virus can affect anyone who raises chickens, from large commercial growers with dozens of chicken houses and thousands of chickens, to back-yard hobbyists such a Lawrence.
The case in Pickens County occurred in the latter, while the other Alabama case, in Montgomery County, sprung from a commercial grower.
Tabler said that there is little reason to believe these bird flu cases pose a risk to public safety — he said he had never heard of anyone dying from bird flu in the U.S. In China, however, 161 people have died from contracting bird flu.
“There are many, many strains of bird flu,” Tabler said. “What we have here in the United States are strains that are not really much of a threat to humans, but it can be devastating to chickens.”
In 2015, an outbreak of bird flu led to the death or euthanization of more than 200,000 chickens, and while Tabler said the industry is better-prepared to address a disaster on a similar scale through measures that should enable chicken growers to react more quickly to a possible outbreak, they should be concerned.
In Mississippi, chicken/egg production is a $2.9 billion industry, the largest agricultural product in the state.
“I can tell you right now, this has the attention of all of the chicken processors and their growers,” Tabler said.
There is no cure for bird flu, Tabler said, and the more virulent strain is almost always fatal to birds, he said.
“The good news with the cases in Alabama is that they are low pathogenic strains,” Tabler said. “With the low path strain, chickens get sick for a while, but it runs its course and they will be fine. It’s the high path strain that is deadly. Once one chicken gets that strain, it will die in a day or two, and within a few days, all the other chickens will get sick and die, too. But even though you can watch for the symptoms, there’s nothing really you can do about it once the virus is there.”
The bad news, Tabler said, and the reason why chicken growers are watchful, is that the strain found in the Alabama cases can move from low pathogenic to high.
“Most likely, in both cases, they’ll depopulate — or euthanize — all those chickens to be on the safe side.”
The owner of the chickens in Pickens County has decided to do that, while the commercial operator in Montgomery is under quarantine but has yet to make the decision to eliminate its stock.
How it happens
“Generally, avian flu is not that common here,” Tabler said. “But if it does happen, this is the time of year you’ll see it.”
The virus is spread through migratory birds, most often geese and ducks, who carry the flu but are immune to the virus. Tabler said the excretions of ducks and geese, mostly droppings, are the main source of danger for chicken.
“Ducks and geese don’t get into chicken pens, though,” Tabler said. “While their manure is where the virus originates, in almost every case, the real cause for chickens getting the flu are because of a breakdown in viral security.”
In simple terms, that breakdown occurs when people track the infected manure into their chicken enclosures.
The virus is so contagious that Tabler said chicken owners should be extremely careful.
“I would avoid going where other people are keeping chickens because you never know how they manage their flock. But even going to places other chicken growers go — the feed store or co-op — could be a risk of transmission. I tell people to change their boots, their clothes, even take a shower, before they go out to their pens this time of year. You cannot be too careful.”
Tabler said commercial operators will go to great lengths when there is a potential for an outbreak.
“They’ll put on new plastic boots and walk through dried chlorine before they go into (or leave) a chicken house,” he said.
In the wake of the recent outbreaks, the state of Alabama has suspended sales of chickens at auctions and flea markets.
With no preventative medicine and no cure, the best hope is for hot weather, Tabler said.
“The virus doesn’t handle the heat very well,” he said. “Once the temperature gets to around 85 degrees and stays there, the virus will die.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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