Avian influenza found in South Carolina

[HeatherKellyB]

@U_Stormcrow is knowledgeable on many things and has been so helpful. @Iluveggers is another one that participated in a recent online meet/course. There are many on this thread that have really learned and shared so much with us. I'm sure someone with this knowledge will chime in. I didn't tag all of the folks, because I believe most are following this thread carefully so I'm sure they'll see this and offer any information they have. This is the best thread out of all of them that I've read with h5n1 information.

 

[Iluveggers]

I *think* I remember one of the zoom info sessions saying that if there is a positive case in the area, they notify all known flocks within a 10 mile radius. Since AI is so deadly, they don’t test unless there are symptoms or a confirmed death. If there is one positive case on-premises, they will cull all birds within.

What wasn’t asked and I’m just thinking of it, is if they find a contaminated bird on your property that is not a part of your flock (wild bird), do they cull your flock immediately or watch & wait, or test. I think your personal system of biosecurity and distance from your flock would play a part on what they decided to do.

I hope I am remembering that correctly…

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I *think* I remember one of the zoom info sessions saying that if there is a positive case in the area, they notify all known flocks within a 10 mile radius. Since AI is so deadly, they don’t test unless there are symptoms or a confirmed death. If there is one positive case on-premises, they will cull all birds within.

What wasn’t asked and I’m just thinking of it, is if they find a contaminated bird on your property that is not a part of your flock (wild bird), do they cull your flock immediately or watch & wait, or test. I think your personal system of biosecurity and distance from your flock would play a part on what they decided to do.

I hope I am remembering that correctly…

So I just want to make sure I'm understanding correctly. They notify anyone with flocks within 10 miles to notify of the higher risk and nothing more. Then if a flock member of another specific flock is confirmed positive, that specific flock is culled? They don't just cull all flocks within 10 miles or even 1 mile, right? I hope this is right because some measures being taken are extremely proactive. I almost wonder how far away the closest commercial poultry house is, but that just might cause way too much stress when there's nothing I can change about it. Of course I'm curious though. I can't imagine going to all of the folks with flocks nearby and offering to up their biosecurity to protect my flocks. I have so many questions but I probably should dive into each one slowly. I've been sick so the brain fog is thick with me

 

[Iluveggers]

So I just want to make sure I'm understanding correctly. They notify anyone with flocks within 10 miles to notify of the higher risk and nothing more. Then if a flock member of another specific flock is confirmed positive, that specific flock is culled? They don't just cull all flocks within 10 miles or even 1 mile, right? I hope this is right because some measures being taken are extremely proactive. I almost wonder how far away the closest commercial poultry house is, but that just might cause way too much stress when there's nothing I can change about it. Of course I'm curious though. I can't imagine going to all of the folks with flocks nearby and offering to up their biosecurity to protect my flocks. I have so many questions but I probably should dive into each one slowly. I've been sick so the brain fog is thick with me

No they said *as of right now* if you are practicing good biosecurity they won’t just come & cull a healthy flock. I think say if you had ducks that ranged over acreage and did not keep them contained and a neighboring flock tested positive they would most certainly test your flock.

I will absolutely be keeping my girls under cover & in their run for this specific reason. You aren’t seen as a risk if your flock is contained.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

No they said *as of right now* if you are practicing good biosecurity they won’t just come & cull a healthy flock. I think say if you had ducks that ranged over acreage and did not keep them contained and a neighboring flock tested positive they would most certainly test your flock.

I will absolutely be keeping my girls under cover & in their run for this specific reason. You aren’t seen as a risk if your flock is contained.

OK. I can breathe again..... Thank you! I am one of those that sees my birds as pets. So I'm assuming that even if you keep separated flocks (separate coop, separate run, separate area on the property) on the same property, if even one is confirmed positive, they'll likely cull all. I don't know how they'd have so many variations due to so many differences in flock keepers, so this is where my assumption comes from. Last one for now, am I wrong in the final word coming down from each individual state instead of the federal government making and enforcing the rules/laws? Thank you!

 

[Iluveggers]

OK. I can breathe again..... Thank you! I am one of those that sees my birds as pets. So I'm assuming that even if you keep separated flocks (separate coop, separate run, separate area on the property) on the same property, if even one is confirmed positive, they'll likely cull all. I don't know how they'd have so many variations due to so many differences in flock keepers, so this is where my assumption comes from. Last one for now, am I wrong in the final word coming down from each individual state instead of the federal government making and enforcing the rules/laws? Thank you!

It is state to state as of right now.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

As @Iluveggers said above, its at the discretion of the State politician charged with such matters - the State Vet, the head of the Ag Dept, whomever that State's Consitution vests with responsibility for controlling disease outbreak affecting livestock - and the limitations on their powers are found in that State's Constitution and/or Statutes. Honestly, those limits are few - the rules constraining them were largely written during a time when testing didn't exist and the only ways to control spread were quarantine and culling.

Reading between the lines, it does not appear that those making such decisions are making any allowance for seperate pens, etc - there are some very large commercial flocks listed as infected, and described in media reports as destroyed. Doubtful anyone had a couple hundred thousand birds in a single building...

State	County	Date Confirmed	Flock Type	Flock Size
Delaware	New Castle	2/22/2022	Commercial Poultry	1,146,937
Maryland	Cecil	3/4/2022	Commercial Layer Chickens	496,272
Missouri	Stoddard	3/4/2022	Commercial Broiler Chickens	360,000
Delaware	New Castle	3/8/2022	Commercial Pullet Chickens	265,000
Kentucky	Fulton	2/12/2022	Commercial Broiler Chickens	231,398
Maryland	Queen Anne's	3/8/2022	Commercial Broiler Chickens	150,000
Kentucky	Webster	2/15/2022	Commercial Turkeys	53,286
Iowa	Buena Vista	3/6/2022	Commercial Turkeys	49,816
Indiana	Greene	2/23/2022	Commercial Turkeys	48,211
South Dakota	Charles Mix	3/5/2022	Commercial Mixed Species	47,330

 

[NanaK]

Everything I've read said culling was on the entire premise, one farm = one premise.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

That's what I was thinking. Once they start making exceptions, problems always follow. I could easily see desperate people shuffling around their birds in hopes of saving them. It could easily lead to a mess very quickly.

 

[saysfaa]

...Last one for now, am I wrong in the final word coming down from each individual state instead of the federal government making and enforcing the rules/laws? Thank you!

No, sort of. Each state makes and enforces the rules on this. They do enough looking at what the feds say and at what other states are doing that the rules on the books end up quite similar.