Snow goose in Kent County tests positive for bird flu

1 hour ago

Andrea Durán,

Georgetown, Del. – On Tuesday, The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and confirmed a presumptive positive case of avian influenza, or bird flu, in a sick in eastern Kent County Delaware on Tuesday.

Officials from the Delaware Department of Agriculture stress that all poultry famers should remain vigilant for signs of any sick birds and report them to the department.

“Number one, you know, if you have a backyard flock, you isolate any animals with signs of illness and contact your veterinarian, disinfect equipment, vehicles, footwear, and other items prior to contact with flocks,” Michael Lewis, chief of community relations for the DDA said.

Other key tips for poultry owners Lewis shared in an email with WMDT include:

Excluding flocks from spaces where wild or migratory birds, especially waterfowl, have access.
Permitting only essential workers and vehicles to enter the farm to limit the chances of bringing the virus from an outside source.
Avoiding visiting other poultry farms and any unnecessary travel off the farm.
Limiting, monitoring and recording any movement of people, vehicles or animals on or off farms.

Lewis said all Delawareans, especially waterfowl hunters, are not to handle visibly sick or dead wild birds and are encouraged to practice biosecurity practices.

“The biggest, outcome that any grower wants to avoid is accidentally allowing, you know, wild birds or wild animals that carry the disease to enter into the chicken house or to accidentally track bird poop that has AI in it, into their chicken house,” James Fisher, communications manager for the Delaware Chicken Association, said. “So everything a farmer does about biosecurity is designed to avoid that outcome. And growers take many, many steps to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

According to Fisher, the Delmarva chicken community is a $4.8 billion part of the local economy and, unfortunately, being vigilant against bird flu is a way of life for farmers and those in the poultry industry.

“Over the past several years, every fall and winter when there’s seasonal migration, you know, biologists and scientists, tell us there are more and more wild waterfowl out there that are carrying avian influenza,” he said. “So, when we talk about risks like avian influenza to chicken farmers, it’s by extension, a real sort of something for the entire farm economy to be concerned about and to take steps to prevent.”

Fisher stressed that, though some people might want to be helpful to sick, dying or dead birds, they should resist the urge to bring them inside their homes and instead contact officials.

However, he said that the rigorous vetting that flocks go through in order to enter the food market prevents danger to consumers.

“People should be reassured that chicken is absolutely safe to eat,” he said. “Every flock of chickens in a broiler farm on Delmarva before it is taken to a processing plant is tested for avian influenza. So every single flock on every single farm is tested before it ever enters the food system.”

Fisher and Lewis both emphasized that poultry owners, farmers and the general public should continue to be vigilant in order to curb any outbreaks and support the health of the chicken community.

“We just really need as a chicken community to keep that vigilance going throughout the winter and into next spring and summer,” Fisher said. “Unfortunately, you know, you just can’t take a day off from thinking about this stuff.”

Lewis said Delaware backyard flock owners who notice any unusual symptoms in their flock should email poultry.health@delaware.gov or call the Delaware Poultry Health Hotline at 302-698-4507 and provide contact information, the size of flock, location, and concerns. Those who spot sick birds can also find more information at the Delaware Avian Influenza Information Center’s website.