Posted on 01/07/2015 11:45:53 AM PST by steve86
(They have slightly changed the title in the online edition to: "Avian flu found in second Benton County backyard flock")
Veterinarians covered in white protective gear herded hundreds of chickens, ducks and other birds into blue trash-can sized barrels Tuesday in rural Richland.
The vets picked up most of the birds and carefully placed them into the carbon dioxide-filled cans to kill them.
State and federal employees had to use nets to capture some of the poultry and waterfowl, which had been exposed to a highly contagious strain of avian influenza. It’s deadly to birds, but humans can’t catch it.
So far, more than 700 Benton County poultry and waterfowl in the past two weeks have died from avian flu or were euthanized to halt the spread of the disease.
Officials found the contagious strain in the Richland flock this week, and they killed the surviving birds Tuesday morning. Veterinarians on Monday euthanized birds from a Benton City flock diagnosed with the disease last week.
The Richland flock had been in direct contact with the Benton City flock, said Hector Castro, the state Department of Agriculture’s communications manager.
This is the first time avian flu has been found in a backyard flock in Washington. No one has found it in any commercial flocks.
The 500 birds in the mixed Richland flock included chickens, turkeys, ducks and guinea fowl. Some of the birds had lost motor control, leaving them helplessly flapping around. Poultry that catch the disease usually die within three days.
“They are already showing significant signs of the illness here,” Castro said early Tuesday.
The veterinarians connected the CO2 tanks to the barrels used to kill the birds. The gas knocked the birds out in seconds, and they died quickly, Castro said.
“They are being as careful with the birds as they can,” he said.
Workers wore Tyvek protective suits while they were in contact with the infected birds to prevent the spread of disease, Castro said.
Officials disposed of the suits, which covered the workers head to toe, after they finished the euthanizations, he said. Anything that came in contact with the birds was decontaminated. The birds’ carcasses were incinerated.
The owner of the Richland flock agreed to have the birds euthanized even though the test results to confirm the avian flu diagnosis weren’t back yet, Castro said.
About 100 ducks from the Richland flock had been mingled with the Benton City flock and were moved back to Richland when the Benton City owners realized there were some health issues with their birds, he said.
The Benton City flock of 200 chickens, turkeys and waterfowl used a pond also visited by migratory wild birds. Wild birds have been known to spread the disease to domestic birds. The Benton City owners contacted the state Department of Agriculture after more than 50 became sick and died.
The Benton City owners stopped moving any birds to other flocks once they realized the health problems were serious, Castro said. They told officials about the Richland ducks that visited their property. State Department of Agriculture officials then contacted the owners of the second flock.
The Richland and Benton City owners cooperated with state and federal officials. They will receive some compensation from USDA, Castro said, but it will cover only the euthanized birds, not those killed by the disease.
Tests by the USDA identified the strain of influenza caught by the Benton City birds as H5N2, Castro said — the same one found in a wild pintail duck in Whatcom County and in outbreaks in Canada.
The virus has not been found in commercial poultry in the U.S. The industry has a robust avian influenza testing program. Inspectors perform weekly testing and health inspections at live bird markets in the state.
Officials are trying to prevent the spread of the disease to other Tri-City area backyard poultry flocks. Federal and state workers will disinfect both properties and check to make sure they killed all of the exposed birds, Castro said.
A small building at the Benton City location might be removed. If so, the owners would be compensated for that as well.
USDA officials will contact property owners within about seven miles of both sites to check to see if any other domestic birds have been infected, Castro said. Those birds would be tested with owner permission. From poultry, a swab is taken from the inside of its beak. With waterfowl, feces are tested.
Another backyard flock that lives near the Benton City flock is being tested even though the birds appear healthy, Castro said. The samples have been sent to a lab to check for avian flu, but it could be a couple of days for the results to be available.
Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2015/01/06/3345156_avian-flu-found-in-second-benton.html?sp=/99/177/&rh=1#storylink=cpy
Curious that the crew is wearing hazmat suits but "humans can't catch it"?
Humans infections are asymptomatic (generally) but read about "genetic reassortment" - i.e. where a human is infected both with human influenza and an avian variety and the two flus transfer genetic material between one another thereby creating a hybrid flu that can both infect and create symptoms in humans.
This is why they don't want humans to catch the infection, symptoms or not.
PING!
carefully placed them into the carbon dioxide-filled cans to kill them.
Egads, they used that earth killing greenhouse gas?! </sarc>
PING!
Mom, feel free to refine my comments re: reassortment.
I’m definitely not taking my pet birds outside but it’s too cold anyway.
I hate to see animals die like that. But of course, they are dying anyway and best put out of their misery, to say nothing of stopping the infection in its tracks. I wonder how many chickens that are sold in Spokane stores come from that area.
Hi, I don’t ever remember hearing about commercial poultry here but I guess it is possible. Likely would be enclosed if so.
When folks post ‘locally oriented’ stories like this, they should at least tell us WHERE it is. (had to go to the “contact us” link on the source newspaper’s page to find where it was)
For others: Benton County, Washington State, (south central-eastern part of state)
When I read this a couple of days ago I was hoping you didn’t have any backyard chickens or ducks. We do have a lot of wild turkeys in our yard on a daily basis. Interesting to see how this spreads.
They can spread it.................
Would be nice for you to tell the rest of us!................;^)
Thank you. I jumped through a few hoops to figure out which side of the rock we’re talking about.
It was on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. :p
/s
There’s a Benton County Mississippi where I grew up..................
That isn’t the issue - it’s reassortment.
Hi, there is a “duck pond” at a commercial development about a quarter mile from my house (closer than the flock in the story) and no doubt infected wild birds have been through there. Columbia River 1 mile away also.
Yeah, I complain about the same thing.
Hilton Head Island?
I know they have wild boars there, so it must be swine flu................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.