Avian Flu Information Clearinghouse
for Bird Owners
My Summary based on USDA-APHIS Recommendations Non-confinement poultry guidelines PDF
While these recommendations are published for poultry producers,
I feel they should be implemented by all folks who have birds.
All of us should be at step 2 now and we should be planning our progression to the next step.
When HP-AI is discovered in the U.S., all bird keepers should
be mentally prepared to have step 4 imposed upon them.
Disease Vectors: Better Safe than Sorry
Consider any wild animal (insects included) an infective agent. Also remember that any bird or any animal (human included) could carry the virus on any body part- especially if they have recently bathed, driven, or walked in a contaminated river, lake, pond, or puddle.
4 Steps to Make Avian Housing More Secure
1. Keep your bird's food and water containers indoors.
Migrating birds, or any wild bird, might be looking for a free meal and if they see other birds eating,
they may decide to join them. Make your enclosure as insect, rodent, and bird-proof as possible.
Also consider removing wild bird feeders from your property.
2. Side & Roof Barriers
Outdoor aviaries should not only contain your birds, but the fencing or plastic netting
should have small enough openings to prevent ANY wild-bird or animal from entering your aviary.
3. Solid Roof
Outdoor aviaries should be covered with a solid roof to keep droppings from
wild birds
out of your aviary.
4. Keep birds indoors
If HP-AI comes to a wetland or poultry flock in your region, you might be placed into a "no-fly zone". Your
birds will have to stay in their building.
The Ultimate Control Solution
5. Depopulate
If HP-AI appears within a few miles of you, you may be forced to let government agents onto your property
to slaughter and properly dispose of your animals.
I sincerely hope all who go through this have friends who will help them build a new flock.
These recommendations are critical for poultry producers to follow, because wild birds, especially wild waterfowl and shorebirds, can be carriers for AI, and the H5/H7 AI subtypes have the potential to mutate to highly pathogenic strains if they become host adapted in domestic poultry.
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