Let’s Talk About Bird Flu

[Goosebaby]

Maybe some one has already asked this, but how do we know when it's safe to let the girls range again?

That pretty much depends on you and your own observations. If you’ve noticed waterfowl in your yard, if you’ve seen sick birds or birds behaving unusually or that just seem off, if there are outbreaks nearby it’s probably a good idea to keep them in. If there is a pond, lake, wetlands close to you, you should be extra vigilant.

If there aren’t any signs like that then it’s probably alright to let them out, there’s always a possible risk but you’re probably fine.

You can always check in with https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestoc...an/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/wild-birds
For updates on detections.

 

[ManOverBoard]

That pretty much depends on you and your own observations. If you’ve noticed waterfowl in your yard, if you’ve seen sick birds or birds behaving unusually or that just seem off, if there are outbreaks nearby it’s probably a good idea to keep them in. If there is a pond, lake, wetlands close to you, you should be extra vigilant.

If there aren’t any signs like that then it’s probably alright to let them out, there’s always a possible risk but you’re probably fine.

You can always check in with https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestoc...an/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/wild-birds
For updates on detections.

Thank you. We do live in the wrong place, two ponds flanking the yard, across the street from a harbor full of birds within 5 miles of a high detection area. No water fowl in the yard, but plenty of songbirds.

This happened in our area last year and the year before that. We didn't take precautions in the past, and after a certain point it was like no one was worried about it anymore with no clear end. I imagine it's like 'flu season' for humans where we worry in the cool months and not so much in su

 

[ManOverBoard]

Thank you. We do live in the wrong place, two ponds flanking the yard, across the street from a harbor full of birds within 5 miles of a high detection area. No water fowl in the yard, but plenty of songbirds.

This happened in our area last year and the year before that. We didn't take precautions in the past, and after a certain point it was like no one was worried about it anymore with no clear end. I imagine it's like 'flu season' for humans where we worry in the cool months and not so much in su

Summer*

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Reports of an unprecedented egg “shortage” are exaggerated. Nonetheless, egg prices — and egg company profits — have gone through the roof. Cal-Maine Foods — the largest egg producer and the only one that publishes its financial data as a publicly traded company — has been making more money than ever. It’s annual gross profits in the past three years have floated between 3 and 6 times what it used to earn before the avian flu epidemic started — breaking $1 billion for the first time in the company’s history. All of this extra profit is coming from higher selling prices, which have been earning Cal-Maine unprecedented 50-170 percent margins over farm production costs per dozen. Taking Cal-Maine as the “bellwether” for the industry’s largest firms — as people in the egg business do — we can be pretty confident that the other large egg producers are also raking in profits off the relatively small dip in egg production.

In other words, the only thing that the egg industry seems to have expanded in response to the avian flu epidemic is windfall profits — which have likely amounted to more than $15 billion since the epidemic began (judging by the increase in the value of annual egg production since 2022), and appear to have been spent primarily on stock buybacks, dividends, and acquisitions of rivals instead of rebuilding and expanding flocks. When an industry starts profiting more from *not* producing than from producing, it’s a sign that something isn’t right. It could be an innocent bottleneck. But when it lasts for three years on end with no relief in sight, it's usually a sign of something else that’s pervasive in America — monopolization. https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/hatching-a-conspiracy-a-big-investigation

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/07/doj-investigation-egg-price-fixing-bird-flu-00218785

https://time.com/6249041/egg-prices-high-gouging/

 

[Goosebaby]

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That first graph really isn’t surprising, there’s this thing called inflation and prices tend to increase over time with it. It would really suck if they were still selling eggs for what they were in 1972, I would call that a poor business plan.

As for the other graphs, corporations love exploiting anything for gain, nothing new.

 

[Goosebaby]

Thank you. We do live in the wrong place, two ponds flanking the yard, across the street from a harbor full of birds within 5 miles of a high detection area. No water fowl in the yard, but plenty of songbirds.

This happened in our area last year and the year before that. We didn't take precautions in the past, and after a certain point it was like no one was worried about it anymore with no clear end. I imagine it's like 'flu season' for humans where we worry in the cool months and not so much in su

I’ve read it can live in water for around 100 days so that’s something to consider on your property, situated as it is. I’m really sorry, I can’t imagine the kind of stress you’re under.

 

[AGeese]

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Personally I'd say the only epidemic is the way they're handling it.

 

[alwaystj9]

H7N9 avian flu strikes Mississippi broiler farm​

News brief

March 17, 2025
Lisa Schnirring

Topics

Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)




The Mississippi Board of Animal Health (MBAH) late last week reported a highly pathogenic avian flu outbreak in commercial poultry, which involves the H7N9 strain—a virus type that hadn't been identified in poultry in the United States since 2017.

ossyugioh / iStock
The MBAH said the outbreak occurred at a broiler facility in Noxubee County, which is in the eastern part of the state on the border with Alabama. It added that the state veterinary lab's findings were confirmed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.
The birds have been depopulated and did not enter the food chain. The MBAH said it is working with federal veterinary officials on a joint incident response. Mississippi has experienced three avian flu outbreaks in commercial poultry since the spring of 2023, and since November 2024, the virus has been detected several times in migratory waterfowl in multiple parts of the state.

More than 47,000 birds depopulated​

A notification on the outbreak submitted to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) noted the H7N9 subtype, which it said belongs to a North American wild bird lineage. The outbreak began on March 8 when clinical signs were noticed, including increased deaths. Depopulation of 47,654 birds at the facility was completed on March 13.
The last high-path H7N9 confirmation in US poultry occurred in March 2017 when outbreaks struck two commercial poultry farms in Tennessee.

 

[Goosebaby]

H7N9 avian flu strikes Mississippi broiler farm​

News brief

March 17, 2025
Lisa Schnirring

Topics

Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)




The Mississippi Board of Animal Health (MBAH) late last week reported a highly pathogenic avian flu outbreak in commercial poultry, which involves the H7N9 strain—a virus type that hadn't been identified in poultry in the United States since 2017.

ossyugioh / iStock
The MBAH said the outbreak occurred at a broiler facility in Noxubee County, which is in the eastern part of the state on the border with Alabama. It added that the state veterinary lab's findings were confirmed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.
The birds have been depopulated and did not enter the food chain. The MBAH said it is working with federal veterinary officials on a joint incident response. Mississippi has experienced three avian flu outbreaks in commercial poultry since the spring of 2023, and since November 2024, the virus has been detected several times in migratory waterfowl in multiple parts of the state.

More than 47,000 birds depopulated​

A notification on the outbreak submitted to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) noted the H7N9 subtype, which it said belongs to a North American wild bird lineage. The outbreak began on March 8 when clinical signs were noticed, including increased deaths. Depopulation of 47,654 birds at the facility was completed on March 13.
The last high-path H7N9 confirmation in US poultry occurred in March 2017 when outbreaks struck two commercial poultry farms in Tennessee.

According to WHO

https://www.who.int/teams/global-influenza-programme/avian-influenza/avian-influenza-a-(h7n9)-virus

“ Avian influenza A(H7N9) is a subtype of influenza virus that has been detected in birds in the past. This particular A(H7N9) virus had not previously been seen in either animals or people until it was found in March 2013 in China.
However, since then, infections in both humans and birds have been observed. The disease is of concern because most patients have become severely ill. Most of the cases of human infection with this avian H7N9 virus have reported recent exposure to live poultry or potentially contaminated environments, especially markets where live birds have been sold. This virus does not appear to transmit easily from person to person, and sustained human-to-human transmission has not been reported.”

 

[Molpet]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...7XoKRdDlQQ87VIkwZA_aem__ML4rZkhWNpfKLlcqnePYg

18 miles from me