Avian influenza found in South Carolina

[Morrigan]

I agree that eradication is probably impossible and it is time to take a more holistic approach including breeding disease resistant poultry, vaccination, and treatments. I strongly oppose the current “mass cull” approach. It’s short sighted and inhumane

That humans can be infected by working with diseased birds, is going to make it more difficult to avoid mass cullings and more challenging to have breeding resistance programs. But, ultimately I do think that breeding for disease resistance is the only long term strategy that makes any sense.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Some countries have been working on a vaccine. But it mutates so not too effective
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7578560/

Its an Influenza type "A" virus. The same family of virii responsible for "the flu" in people - and as we all know from the annual "flu shots" available for us people-types, its of uncertain efficacy from year to year, because there are so so many variations out there.

In the case of HPAI, its not even "a" virus. Its one of a whole host of virii, usually of the H5N1 or H7 varieties which gets its "HP" designation when it kills 75% or more of the chickens infected with it (that's the difference between HPAI and LPAI - the death rate, not some genetic marker). The Chinese did some work with bivalent vaccines and saw reduction in H5-strain mortality, but an incraese in deadly infections from other, unrelated, strains. H11 and H13 (I think, but would need to recheck my sources). In essence, a game of whack-a-mole with custom crafted vaccines as the hammer.

The disease is Endemic - meaning always present in the environment, with a number of other avian creatures serving as natural reserviors of the disease in the wild, primarily waterfowl, who are generally carriers and rarely affected fatally by the disease. For that reason, AI infections of poultry tend to follow seasonal migration patterns in their spread - though modern transportation of poultry in bulk is making that pattern a little "fuzzier".

Since killing the host before the disease can spread to other hosts is ultimately career ending defect for a virus, we can reasonably expect (over a long time scale) that Avian Influenza will become less deadly with time as it continues to mutate, much as Human Influenza has - being of greatest risk to those whose immune system is already compromised. We see that already in ducks, geese, some other birds.

In the short term, however it is potentially devastating to those without some resistance - including the numerous new species becoming affected by recent mutations - dogs, cats, cattle, various related wild sister-species canidae and felidea, and of course we human-types.

 

[Molpet]

we can reasonably expect (over a long time scale) that Avian Influenza will become less deadly

https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/avian-timeline/index.html

"The first description of avian influenza (bird flu) dates to 1878 in northern Italy, when it was described as a contagious disease of poultry associated with high mortality, referred to as "fowl plague."

 

[U_Stormcrow]

https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/avian-timeline/index.html

"The first description of avian influenza (bird flu) dates to 1878 in northern Italy, when it was described as a contagious disease of poultry associated with high mortality, referred to as "fowl plague."

Right. A long time scale for evolutionary purposes is many hundreds of years for even very simple things (on average) - the virii are likely to continue to adapt towards less lethal forms long before our chickens develop broad resistance on their own. More complex critters like ourselves will take even longer.

 

[My15Ducks]

That humans can be infected by working with diseased birds, is going to make it more difficult to avoid mass cullings and more challenging to have breeding resistance programs. But, ultimately I do think that breeding for disease resistance is the only long term strategy that makes any sense.

Fortunately most people have only had mild illness, so I would be less concerned about working on breeding disease resistant poultry. The biggest challenge will be getting the government to agree

 

[Molpet]

FB post from State says
Bleach at a rate of 1:32, which is 1/2 cup to one gallon of water, has been shown to deactivate the virus.

Rest of article
Highly Pathogenic Avian influenza (H5N1, HPAI), or bird flu, is again spreading across the United States and has been positively identified in multiple avian species in IL. There have been multiple large mortality events (greater than 5 birds) that are also suspicious for HPAI.

https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.30768.html

IDNR is currently monitoring the progression of this disease process and should be contacted with any reports of 5 or more deceased or dying birds found in 1 location within a 24-hr period. To find the wildlife biologist assigned to your county, see their website at https://wildlifeillinois.org/idnr-district-wildlife-biologist/

DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center and many other rehabilitation centers in Illinois are taking actions to limit the spread of the disease, including bulking up on biosecurity measures, increased personal protection equipment, and potentially limiting high risk species intakes (waterfowl, waterbirds, raptors, scavengers). As with the last HPAI outbreak, we will use a tiered approach if cases of HPAI become exponentially worse. One of the highest levels of mitigation for this disease is halting or drastically limiting the intake of avian species, or at least species of high risk. Our highest priority is the safety of our staff, current patients, and non-releasable ambassador animals; however we still want to be able to safely provide humane euthanasia to birds suffering from suspected HPAI and treat those that are not.

At this time, we cannot take any birds from large mortality events. Again, these should be reported to and handled by IDNR. However, we will continue to admit high risk species on a case-by-case basis for now. If you have concerns about sick or injured wildlife, please give us a call at 630-942-6200. If you suspect HPAI, we highly recommend you call us first before attempting to rescue.

When handling suspicious wildlife, please wear appropriate PPE (mask, gloves, eye protection). Please disinfect any items that have come into contact with suspicious wildlife. Bleach at a rate of 1:32, which is 1/2 cup to one gallon of water, has been shown to deactivate the virus. If you do not have appropriate PPE, please do not attempt to rescue any suspicious animals.

For further information, please see our website.

 

[Folly's place]

Thanks for posting this, all very good advice for all of us!
Last summer we had our one acre farm pond redone, into a half acre much deeper pond, which was necessary, but very disruptive for the wild birds and all pond life.
Usually we had four or five pairs of Canada geese, plus many unattached younger gees, at our pond in spring, so maybe five families including goslings.
This spring, ONE pair, and only two geese not nesting, so five goslings total. What happened to all those other geese over winter? Don't know, but we can't help but wonder if at least some were ill and died.
Hunters can't have been that successful last fall!
Mary