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‘Every reason to believe’ avian flu on Delmarva by fall

Jeremy Cox
jcox6@dmg.gannett.com

Maryland’s top agricultural official said Thursday, July 23, he has “every reason to believe” the avian flu outbreak that has ravaged poultry flocks across much of the country will show up in the state during the fall.

The disease’s west-to-east spread has led to the destruction of about 48 million birds over the past year. No cases of the so-called high-path avian influenza have been reported in Maryland or Delaware — so far.

But as waterfowl leave their Canadian breeding grounds for points south this fall, it’s likely only a matter of time before that changes, agricultural officials say.

“We have every reason to believe that HPAI will enter Maryland this fall, and we are making every effort to keep it out of our commercial chickenhouses and backyard flocks,” Agriculture Secretary Joe Bartenfelder said in a statement. “I strongly encourage all flock owners and managers to take this disease as seriously as they have ever taken anything and to practice enhanced bio-security at all times.”

Citing the threat to the state’s $1 billion poultry industry, Bartenfelder declared a ban on displaying poultry at all fairs and shows. The prohibition takes effect after Aug. 25.

The department also issued a quarantine order Wednesday mandating all hatching eggs and poultry coming into the state to be tested within 10 days unless they have originated from a certified clean facility.

On Delmarva, farmers and agricultural officials hope they’re ready to keep the disease in check. They can point to experience and the lessons they learned from an outbreak a decade ago.

In 2004, a different strain of avian flu was found at two Delaware farms and one near Pocomoke City. To control that outbreak, 205,000 chickens were killed and composted inside their chicken houses as officials imposed quarantine zones for miles around the affected farms.

That strain, however, was less pathogenic — meaning less likely to sicken and kill birds that contract it — than the current outbreak.

“This one is unprecedented because of the scope of it and the virulence of the virus,” said Mike Radebaugh, the state of Maryland’s veterinarian. “These birds, 90 percent are dying within 5 days. Definitely, the economic impact of this is going to reverberate around the country for years.”

From last December to June, the disease spread from farms on the Pacific coast to Kansas and Arkansas to as far east as Indiana. Experts believe it's likely wild migratory birds carried the virus, which is not known to infect humans.

In all, farmers have sacrificed 48 million birds, most of them egg-laying chickens, in an effort to halt the disease in its tracks.

The flu’s spread hit a lull over the summer, likely because it fares poorly in temperatures over 60 degrees, experts say. But cases are expected to pick up again as fall arrives, putting agricultural officials, farmers and others on high alert once again.

“We’re the only flyway left it has not come into,” Radebaugh said. “Knowing the flyways mingle and overlap in the breeding areas in Canada and Hudson Bay, we hope we’re wrong, but we think it will come into our region this fall when the birds come down.”

Its effect on Delmarva will depend on where it’s discovered, said Bill Satterfield, director of the trade group Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.

If it’s only detected in wild birds, farmers will be required to ramp up bio-security measures, but commerce will continue. If a bird in a commercial flock gets infected, the entire flock will be destroyed and officials will draw a quarantine zone around it.

In such cases, Satterfield said, “it will be disruptive and it will be costly.”

Although fairs and shows are set to lose their chickens, they will still be found at poultry auctions, Radebaugh said. State animal health officials already attend the auctions, performing health exams and testing birds. But if avian flu is suspected in the region, those, too, will be closed to birds.

Delaware, meanwhile, is taking similar steps to head off an outbreak.

It banned ducks and geese at the Delaware State Fair, which opened Thursday. For exhibitors who brought other birds — chickens, pheasant, turkeys, quail — the fair largely proceeded as it always has, though.

Maryland officials barred waterfowl from fairs back in May and also required testing for poultry before going on exhibit in the state.

Since the new regulations don’t take effect until later in the month, the Wicomico County Fair, scheduled for Aug. 14-16, will operate under the May rules and have poultry on display, said Alan Gravenor, president of the Wicomico Farm & Home Shore Board.

If there is a silver lining for Delmarva, Radebaugh said, it’s that broilers, the area’s dominant type of chicken production, have been relatively unscathed in regions affected by the flu.

He suspects a few reasons for that:

• Unlike egg-laying operations, chickens are housed by the thousand, not million.

• The broilers’ short, weeks-long lifespan presents the virus with less opportunity to get them sick.

• Turkeys, which also have been hit hard, require more ventilation because of their larger size (their bodies produce more heat). As a result, it can be easier for wild birds to find their way inside and infect them.

All it takes to affect 1 million birds is 1 gram of fecal material from an infected duck, Radebaugh said. It will be important, he emphasized, for farmers, contractors and visitors to take every available precaution to keep their birds from getting sick.

jcox6@dmg.gannett.com

410-845-4630

On Twitter @Jeremy_Cox

James Fisher of The News Journal contributed to this report.