Avian influenza found in South Carolina

[TooCheep]

Waiting for resistance to develop is hit-or-miss. Having enough resistance to avoid mortality does not prevent transmission. To be beneficial, the resistance would also have to be a heritable trait. The virus is going to be mutating at the same time to side-step resistance.

APHIS is focusing on building resistance through vaccination.

So, precisely the same path as with Covid vaccines. Based on recent experience, the solution is therefore likely to be:

• Expensive and economically damaging (we are already seeing the latter).
• Trains people to ignore natural biological adaptation.
• Keeps people from looking for any alternate solutions that might work.
• Centralizes all testing/trials to a small group of researchers who likely have financial incentive in the solution.
• Encourages people who follow "the company line" to attack and ostracize those who look for alternate solutions.
• In the end, the vaccine may not prevent either transmission or provide significant resistance.
• Will have a greatly shortened testing cycle which will open the door to unknown side effects, both directly to the birds and indirectly to those that eat their eggs or meat.

These are the lessons from recent experience. I'm not going to say no to looking for a vaccine (though I have serious doubts about it). However, suppressing looking for alternate solutions and killing millions of birds that might be able to resist this disease is absolutely the wrong path.

 

[raingarden]

Having a bird survive HPAI is of no value unless the trait can be passed on to subsequent generations and does not create a Typhoid Mary. That's a very tall order.

I guess you think Ivermectin and Chloroquine will work.

 

[TooCheep]

Having a bird survive HPAI is of no value unless the trait can be passed on to subsequent generations and does not create a Typhoid Mary. That's a very tall order.

That "tall order" is precisely the path that every breed of bird (other than the few that are domesticated) will be following. I don't expect them to go extinct any more than their predecessors have over many millions of years of disease exposure.

 

[Folly's place]

Some folks don't remember smallpox, which 'only' killed 30% to 50% of people infected, and how great the vaccine was when developed! Never mind tetanus, and rabies vaccine. And more recently, measles, mumps, and chicken pox!
Many of us are alive thanks to at least those vaccines, and not waiting for 'natural immunity'. How about Ebola, thank God not here, that was killing 90% of it's victims? This AI is 'naturally' killing over 90% of chickens and turkeys infected. What does that do to our food supply? What happens when that influenza virus mutates to humans?
Rant over...
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

How could I not mention polio?!!
Mary

 

[TooCheep]

Some folks don't remember smallpox, which 'only' killed 30% to 50% of people infected, and how great the vaccine was when developed! Never mind tetanus, and rabies vaccine. And more recently, measles, mumps, and chicken pox!
Many of us are alive thanks to at least those vaccines, and not waiting for 'natural immunity'. How about Ebola, thank God not here, that was killing 90% of it's victims? This AI is 'naturally' killing over 90% of chickens and turkeys infected. What does that do to our food supply? What happens when that influenza virus mutates to humans?
Rant over...
Mary

Not sure who you are talking about, but it certainly isn't me. I'm quite aware of various plagues that have come and gone over time. I'm also aware that the Spanish flu plague was fought largely with sun exposure, that the black plague was fought with sanitation, that measles, mumps and chicken pox aren't particularly fatal.

I explicitly stated above that I'm not against looking for a vaccine. However, we should not allow ourselves to be herded into a "save me!" mentality and should have many people exploring different avenues towards multiple solutions rather than a select few.

Again, there are lessons to be learned from recent experience. Viruses are known to evolve into less pathogenic versions over time. Killing your host isn't a survival trait for viruses that want to reproduce and spread. The Omicron version of Covid has arguably done more to spread disease resistance than all of the vaccines, lockdowns, masking and firings combined.

Many of us are already fighting this disease by physically separating our birds from nature. That will help them survive in the meantime, but is not a long-term solution.

 

[RoyalChick]

Measles fatality rate in young children (under a year) is about 25%

 

[NanaK]

I just saw this on the APHIS news page today.
Found a particular comment interesting. I thought some of you may like to read it.

I found the entry from Hearth and Haven Farm the most interesting. It's a bit long and includes photos of their duck farm and business. (All loaded quickly for me.) Their ducks were culled after the holidays.

It's here https://www.regulations.gov/comment/APHIS-2022-0055-0009 The first 4 are photos. Last link is the comment.

It's very well written. This person seems very intelligent and looks like they did their research. It's really worth the read.


It's about this-

Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Control in the United States

APHIS is requesting public comment to further define the scope of the EIS, identify reasonable alternatives and potential issues, as well as relevant information, studies, and/or analyses that APHIS should consider in the EIS.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/federal-register-posts/sa_by_date/sa-2023/eis-hpai-control Link at bottom of page takes you to other comments.

 

[NanaK]

RALEIGH –Rowan County has an emu that tested positive for High Path Avian Influenza (HPAI).

https://www.ncagr.gov/paffairs/release/2023/RowanCountyhasapositiveHPAIcase.htm

This is posted on the NC Ag page on Jan 26,2023 but not on APHIS. It doesn't say if the emu was culled or privately or zoo owned. Google didn't pull up any more info either??

 

[RoyalChick]

I just saw this on the APHIS news page today.
Found a particular comment interesting. I thought some of you may like to read it.

I found the entry from Hearth and Haven Farm the most interesting. It's a bit long and includes photos of their duck farm and business. (All loaded quickly for me.) Their ducks were culled after the holidays.

It's here https://www.regulations.gov/comment/APHIS-2022-0055-0009 The first 4 are photos. Last link is the comment.

It's very well written. This person seems very intelligent and looks like they did their research. It's really worth the read.


It's about this-

Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Control in the United States

APHIS is requesting public comment to further define the scope of the EIS, identify reasonable alternatives and potential issues, as well as relevant information, studies, and/or analyses that APHIS should consider in the EIS.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/federal-register-posts/sa_by_date/sa-2023/eis-hpai-control Link at bottom of page takes you to other comments.

The request for public comments is encouraging - shouldn't we somehow as a BYC community come up with a position statement and submit it?
Of course we could all do that individually, but I wonder if a collective view of a group might carry more weight.