Strain of Bird Flu detected in NC | Eastern North Carolina Now

Vigilance but not panic is being advised for poultry farms and others with poultry in their backyards after a strain of Avian Flu was recently detected in 65 hunter-harvested wild waterfowl at three sites

ENCNow
    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal.

    Vigilance but not panic is being advised for poultry farms and others with poultry in their backyards after a strain of Avian Flu was recently detected in 65 hunter-harvested wild waterfowl at three sites in North Carolina and other nearby states as of Feb. 4. It's also the reason why the North Carolina Zoo closed its aviary to the public on Jan. 26.

    The samples of High Path Avian Influenza came from sites in Hyde County, a site located on the Pamlico/Beaufort County line, in Bladen County, in SC and VA.

    While there are no risks to humans, the potential risk to the state's poultry industry would be devastating, as its economic impact for NC is nearly $40 billion.

    "We don't want it in our commercial birds because it will make them sick," said Bob Ford, Executive Director for North Carolina Poultry Federation. "Migratory wildfowl, like ducks and geese that migrate, are asymptomatic." Ford said while Low Path influenza has always been found in wild birds, it's not as much of a concern as High Path because the birds "get sicker quicker." He said there has been an H5 Eurasian subtype of the Asian Flu detected in the last year or so in Asia, some parts of Africa, and Europe, where it has caused a lot of problems for commercial birds.

    The migratory route is called the East Atlantic Flyway. Birds migrate up the coast of Africa, across Europe, and into Canada and North America. That flyway crosses the Atlantic American Flyway. Ford said an initial cause for concern occurred earlier this year when some of the high path H5 Eurasian strain was found in Newfoundland.

    If there is a concern, a sample is sent to a state lab for testing. Any test that is suspicious, will be sent to the National Veterinary Laboratory in Ames, Iowa to determine the type of flu.

    People are taking the recent announcement seriously and are sending samples to the lab to be tested. "People who might otherwise ignore it and say this is not a problem are getting their birds to the lab and having them tested as they should do," said Michael Martin, North Carolina State Veterinarian, NC Dept. of Agriculture.

    "These samples represent the Atlantic American Flyway, which means we are making the assumption that these birds can be positive anywhere in our state. This isn't a coastal problem. It's a North Carolina problem," he said. He said currently there aren't any domesticated birds, commercial or otherwise testing positive. "

    Martin said the Dept. of Ag's website should have updated numbers each Friday.

    Ford said the migratory birds usually stay in the area until March or April before traveling on to South America where they go home to nest. Most commercial growers keep their birds inside but if anyone has any that they keep outside, like in a backyard, they are being advised to bring them inside for a while.

    The warning signs of HPAI include reduced energy, decreased appetite, and/or decreased activity, lower egg production and/or soft-shelled or misshapen eggs, swelling of the head, eyelids, comb, and wattles, purple discoloration of the wattles, comb, and legs, difficulty breathing, runny nares (nose), and/or sneezing, twisting of the head and neck, stumbling, falling down, tremors and/or circling, and greenish diarrhea

    If anyone has concerns, they should report them to their local veterinarian, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Veterinary Division at 919-707-3250, or the N.C. Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System at 919-733-3986. 

    For more information on avian influenza and protective additional steps you can take, visit www.ncagr.gov/avianflu.
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Legal challenge to governor’s emergency powers one step closer to three-judge panel Carolina Journal, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics Follow The Money


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, admitted that he cheated on his first wife with the couple’s babysitter after a report was published on Saturday that said the marriage ended after he got the babysitter pregnant.
A black Georgia activist became the center of attention at a rally for former president Donald Trump on Saturday when she riled the crowd in support of Trump and how his policies benefit black Americans.
Former President has been indicted by a federal judge in Pennsylvania for inciting an assassination attempt that nearly killed him.
A federal judge ruled on Monday that Google has a monopoly over general search engine services, siding with the Justice Department and more than two dozen states that sued the tech company, alleging antitrust violations.
3 debates and Twitter interview

HbAD1

If we vote the way we have always voted we will get the kind of government we have always gotten
Check it out and see if you think this is an exhibit of Open Government
Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told reporters on Friday that his agency was fully responsible for the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last month and that the agency “should have had eyes” on the roof where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

HbAD2


HbAD3

 
Back to Top