Oregon Ag Department hopes bird flu cooped up
A bird flu outbreak that has barred U.S. poultry from some overseas markets has apparently been contained to one southern Oregon backyard flock, Oregon Department of Agriculture spokesman Bruce Pokarney said Dec. 30.
“We feel very good. Nothing has spread from that site,” he said. “We’re pretty confident any danger of spreading from the original premises is over.”
A contagious and lethal avian influenza strain was confirmed Dec. 19 in a 100-bird flock in Winston in Douglas County. The highly pathogenic H5N8 virus killed 20 guinea fowl and two chickens.
It was the first outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu in U.S. poultry in a decade and came three days after the virus was confirmed in a wild duck and captive falcon in Washington.
Although the virus has not appeared in commercial flocks, several countries have restricted U.S. poultry imports.
“It’s been a catastrophe — that one backyard flock,” USA Poultry & Egg Export Council President Jim Sumner said Dec. 31. “It’s cost us a few hundred million dollars.”
Pokarney said the other birds in the Winston flock were euthanized, and the premises have been disinfected.
The owner had not been moving birds off his property, Pokarney said. “He wasn’t introducing the birds to anywhere else.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will continue checking other backyard flocks in the area for several more weeks, according to USDA spokeswoman Joelle Hayden.
South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Russia have banned U.S. poultry and poultry products from their countries. Canada, Japan and Singapore have imposed restrictions on Oregon poultry. Hong Kong banned poultry and poultry products specifically from Douglas County.
Sumner said other countries have halted issuing import permits, effectively banning U.S. poultry.
South Korea alone imported U.S. raw poultry products worth $78 million between January and September of this year, according to the export council.
The USDA issued a statement Dec. 30 accusing countries of overreacting and ignoring “sound science.”
“Unfortunately, some countries have decided to place far more restrictive measures than necessary on U.S. poultry, including, in a few instances, bans on imports of all U.S. poultry and poultry products,” the USDA stated. “We disagree with these actions and are taking a number of steps to address them and help support the U.S. poultry industry.”
Avian influenza has not caused human health problems in the U.S. Health officials say infected birds are safe to consume if properly cooked.
Even if the outbreak is contained, there may be more trade restrictions coming, and bans could be in place for several months, Sumner said. “Some countries look for an excuse to stick it to us,” he said.
To guard against further outbreaks, agriculture officials have been urging backyard flock owners to keep wild birds away from their poultry.
The Winston guinea fowl and chickens ranged free outdoors on property with a pond and marsh. Officials suspect the domestic birds contracted the virus from migratory waterfowl.
A northern pintail duck found dead in December at Wiser Lake in Whatcom County in northwest Washington tested positive for highly pathogenic H5N2. A captive gyrfalcon fed wild duck shot at the same lake died and tested positive for highly pathogenic H5N8.
Washington Fish and Wildlife waterfowl section manager Don Kraege said more than 200 wild birds have been tested since then, but none had bird flu.
Officials plan to continue testing migrating waterfowl in northwest and southwest Washington for a few more weeks. The birds have largely stopped for the winter and won’t range far unless pushed south by harsh weather, Kraege said.
“We just have to wait and see the results from this to see where we go next,” he said.
Wild birds commonly carry avian influenza, but it’s rarely fatal to them. Even the wild duck that had the highly pathogenic virus, died of another disease.
Low pathogenic bird flu, less contagious and less deadly to poultry, is more common but still inspires trade restrictions.
New highly pathogenic bird flu cases continue to break out in Asia and Europe.
On Dec. 29, a Japanese broiler breeder farm reported a high mortality rate. Authorities quickly identified highly pathogenic H5N8 as the cause. Some 37,000 chickens were destroyed, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.
Other countries reporting highly pathogenic bird flu outbreaks this month are Italy, Vietnam, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and Canada.
Highly pathogenic H5N2, which shares gene segments with H5N8, has claimed 245,600 birds at 11 British Columbia commercial poultry farms in December. In addition, an 85-bird noncommercial flock of ducks, chickens, geese and turkeys was infected. The last outbreak was reported Dec. 19.