Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza …"What, Me Worry?"

You may have heard that Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), has been found in a lot of wild birds this year – all the way up and down the East coast, from Canada to Florida…and in many states in between. There have also been outbreaks of this viral disease seen in backyard poultry flocks, as well as in commercial flocks, including flocks in Pennsylvania. HPAI outbreaks have occurred in many parts of the country, in fact.

If you're visiting farms - for business, or just dropping in on a neighbor - you should always be thinking about what you can do to prevent bringing a pathogen onto the farm or taking one off of the farm when you leave. That small pile of bird droppings on a parking lot at your neighborhood convenience store could very well have the HPAI virus in it…and the virus could then end up on the bottom of your boots when you walk from your truck to the store to pick up a coffee (Figure 1). If your next stop is at the farm down the road to drop off some grain or hay, you could also be dropping off the virus from the bottom of your boot at the same time!  If one of the chickens that lives on the farm then happens to pick up a bug, or some grain, from the ground where you walked (and left the virus behind), you might just have become responsible for introducing HPAI onto that farm. The virus could also be on your clothing, or on your vehicle, or even on your hands!

 
Figure 1. Bird dropping on pavement. Does it contain HPAI?

It's quite easy to reduce the risk of bringing the virus onto a farm by taking some simple precautions. The first step is to not drive any further onto the farm property than needed, and to try to avoid driving where dirt (quite possibly with the HPAI virus in it) from your tires or undercarriage might get onto surfaces where

1. poultry can be foraging
2. the farm's equipment or tires could become contaminated, or
3. farm employees might walk.

You also want to avoid getting any dirt and manure from the farm onto your tires or vehicle, because then you could possibly pick up something (like HPAI!) from this farm and take it with you to the farm down the road. Many larger farms are installing automatic vehicle spraying systems, or there may be a tank with disinfectant at the end of the laneway for you to manually spray down your vehicle. Please make sure you follow any and all instructions that the farm has posted. Keeping your vehicle clean is also a recommended "best practice" (disinfectants work much better on clean surfaces!), so get to know where the car washes are in your territory, and use them regularly!

Next, make sure you have a bunch of disposable boot covers in your vehicle, as well as some disinfectant spray (eg. Lysol®) and hand sanitizer. The best option is not to get out of your vehicle at all, but if you do have to get out, slip on a set of boot covers as you're exiting your vehicle. This will prevent you from leaving anything that's on your footwear on the farm. If you're out of the vehicle, try to avoid going anywhere that you don't absolutely need to – including areas or spaces where there are poultry, the farm office, or the shed to have a look at that brand new 4-wheeler the farmer just purchased. Instead of bringing the delivery slip or invoice into the office, text or email it to the farm manager. And if you have to go into areas where there is any possibility of animal contact, you should really put on a pair of disposable coveralls.

When you've finished at the farm, remove your boot covers (and disposable coveralls) as you're getting back into your vehicle. By doing this, you've hopefully prevented any harmful viruses or bacteria that might be present on the farm from getting onto your footwear, and into your vehicle. Give the used items (they're just meant for a single use!) to someone at the farm to dispose of in their trash. As you swing your feet back into your vehicle, give your boots or shoes a quick spray with the disinfectant for an extra measure of safety. Then disinfect your hands with a sanitizer, since you were just handling the boot covers and your hands might have gotten contaminated.

These are some simple and inexpensive precautions you can use to reduce the risk of transmitting HPAI onto, or off of, a farm. Please consider implementing them today, if you aren't already doing so.

Another thing to consider is whether you have poultry at home. If you do, you should be taking a few extra precautions to keep them safe, and to reduce the possibility infecting other farms in case your birds happen to get HPAI.  First of all, watch them very closely for any signs of disease and/or unexpected deaths. The signs of HPAI can vary substantially (sudden death, lack of appetite, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, incoordination, etc.) so almost anything unusual that you observe should be considered suspicious and should be reported. If you have a veterinarian you work with, you could call her/him, but they will probably suggest that you call the PA Department of Agriculture (717-772-2852), so you could just do that right away. The PDA has a veterinarian on-call 24/7, and they will help you determine what to do. In the meantime, you should also not allow any visitors onto (or off of!) your farm, and you definitely shouldn't take any birds off the farm, unless explicitly instructed to do so by the PDA.

Secondly, when you leave your farm or home, you should not wear the same boots and clothing that you wore when taking care of your animals – there's a risk of bringing manure and/or respiratory secretions (both of which may contain HPAI and other pathogens) to other farms that way. And when you come home after work, you should again change clothing to reduce the risk of getting your animals sick. In fact, if you can change clothes and shoes at the office (and launder/disinfect them there), that would be even better!

Reducing the risk of spreading HPAI involves everyone doing their part. Even a few small changes to your routines and habits could make a big difference!

If you are interested in knowing more about HPAI, please visit the Penn State Extension Avian Influenza landing page, and watch this video   about biosecurity when entering a farm premises.