The latest news regarding cases of bird flu in Lithuania makes industrial poultry specialists worry, but the frequent breeder of a small flock of birds simply washes his hands. There is no vaccine once morest bird flu, but there are other ways to protect your birds from the dangerous virus. The bird flu virus (H5N1) has been identified in 73 countries over 27 years and has affected not only various bird species, but also mammals.
Real threat or illusion of threat?
Avian influenza virus (H5N1), belonging to influenza type A and identified in China in 1996, affects not only wild but also domestic birds, which may show mild or no signs of illness. Other animals can be infected with bird flu – horses, pigs, foxes, otters. From very close direct contact with infected birds, people also get sick in rare cases.
New large cases of this virus have been identified in industrial poultry farms and in wildlife in North and South America, Asia. And near Lima, the capital of Peru, the discovery of sea lions and seals with the H5N1 bird flu virus, with thousands of them dead lying on the shores, raises the threat that this highly pathogenic flu virus mutates rapidly and the possibility of direct transmission from mammal to mammal appears.
Last November, for the first time in South America, bird flu was detected in pelicans. However, in recent weeks, the rapidly spreading disease has wiped out even rare birds protected in national parks, penguin colonies living in the southern regions, and practically destroyed the local cormorants. Infected birds roam public beaches, unafraid of crowds of visitors enjoying the sun.
Turkey and broiler farmers in Poland suffered heavy losses this winter due to highly pathogenic bird flu. The problem is exacerbated by migrating wild birds that carry the virus from Asian countries, where bird flu is also rampant. In Lithuania, a virus of the H5N1 subtype of bird flu has already been confirmed in a small farm in Varėna district, near Poland.
How to protect your poultry farm?
What can every poultry farmer do to prevent this disease? The bird flu virus is usually transmitted by direct contact with the excrement (feces) of an infected bird. But bird flu can be transmitted to your farm through contaminated vehicles, shoes, clothes, water systems or feed. Therefore, during the migration of wild birds, it is necessary to prohibit and strictly limit the visit of outsiders and vehicles to your farm and not to visit other poultry farms, use desomats or disinfectant mats.
As much as you would like to renew your poultry flock in the spring, you need to be aware that even clinically normal (appearing healthy and without signs of disease) birds can introduce the virus into the old flock. Therefore, import or purchase of birds from unknown persons or places should be avoided.
Day-old chicks can be infected already in the incubator, so consider carefully whether you buy birds from a reliable poultry breeder. Pay particular attention to birds hatched in incubators in other countries where avian flu outbreaks have been confirmed. And if you buy birds from a dealer, consider that he visits a lot of poultry farms, so even a well-intentioned breeder who does not comply with biosafety requirements (through contaminated shoes, clothes, boxes, equipment) can spread various bird diseases.
Take a look at your farm
Can your birds have direct contact with migrating wild birds? In Lithuania, highly pathogenic bird flu was detected in swans, which destroyed a large colony of seagulls. So ensure that your domestic birds do not have any contact with wild ones, avoid releasing them into open spaces, open bodies of water. Also install corrals with canopies, as a flock of migratory birds flying over the farm can cause a lot of damage.
Birds should receive feed and water only indoors. At the same time, you will also avoid the movement of wild birds around poultry enclosures. Do not use water from open bodies of water (streams, ponds) for watering birds. Domestic geese and ducks must be kept separately from other poultry – laying hens or turkeys, because the birds can become infected from each other, as well as fecal-oral, through water.
Insects and rodents can also mechanically transmit the virus to birds with low resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to destroy rodents and other parasites and find ways to avoid them, constantly clean and disinfect places where birds are kept and used maintenance equipment, change work clothes and shoes when going to the aviary, and observe personal hygiene. It is also necessary to pay attention to how the feed intended for the birds is kept on the farm. Are they inaccessible to rodents? Is the feed stored in closed rooms and containers?
What helps poultry fight once morest infectious diseases
UAB “Ariogalos grūdai” specializes in producing fodder for various bird species, so the company’s specialists are concerned regarding analyzing potential threats and monitoring the situation around the world. Male technologist dr. Skaida Šilingė advises to purchase feed only from reliable producers who comply with all safety requirements both in the production, storage and transportation of feed. UAB “Ariogalos grūdai” specialists recommend the use of granulated fodder, when potential pathogens are destroyed by thermal processing of raw materials, or non-granulated, but supplemented with organic acids for the prevention of micromycetes and bacterial contamination.
A responsible poultry farmer must monitor the birds’ health, water and feed consumption on a daily basis. The incubation period of the disease usually lasts five to six days, but sometimes this period lasts from several hours to seven days. The disease can manifest itself in a sudden mass drop of birds, with a mortality rate of 100%. But the early signs of the disease are more often observed – appetite and the need to drink disappear, weight falls, the frequency of laying decreases, and the laid eggs have a weak shell. The birds become sluggish, their feathers are ruffled, and their body temperature rises slightly.
As the disease progresses, abundant and watery diarrhea occurs, great thirst is felt, and the eyes water intensely. Birds squat or lie with their heads down, and their scapulae turn blue, swell, hemorrhages, and movement coordination disorders may occur. Birds fall en masse.
What to do if you suspect bird flu?
If there is even the slightest suspicion that the birds are suffering from bird flu, the territorial food and veterinary service should be contacted immediately. In this case, restriction or quarantine measures are applied in poultry houses. Unfortunately, due to the high risk, standard avian flu control measures are applied – quarantine and destruction of infected flocks.
Avian influenza virus can remain viable for long periods at moderate temperatures and can live indefinitely in frozen material. Because of this, the disease can be spread through improper disposal of infected carcasses and manure. Therefore, it is necessary not to import and consume poultry and poultry products of unknown origin, because even the slightest mistake can kill both personal and surrounding poultry farms.
There is no vaccine once morest the H5N1 bird flu virus, and the alternatives that are being developed, such as herbal preparations, have been found to be poorly effective by scientific research. Therefore, in order to protect his farm from bird flu, the poultry farmer should comply with the biosecurity requirements described above, purchase new birds from reliable farms and feed them with quality complete feed from the first day, so that the birds are resistant to infections and have strong immunity.
NOTICE PUBLISHED BY: SKAIDRA KORDUŠIENĖ, COOPERATIVE AGROAVES GROUP
