Avian flu decimates Tulare County chicken operation as thousands of birds are killed
An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has led to the destruction of 786,600 broiler chickens at a Tulare County ranch, marking the second poultry outbreak in about a month in the Central Valley of California.
The latest outbreak is raising concerns among farmers and veterinarians that the highly infectious virus continues to wreak havoc in animal agriculture.
“Globally, we can’t get a handle on this outbreak,” said Maurice Pitesky, associate professor in cooperative extension at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Outbreaks of the virus occur worldwide periodically and in January 2022 surfaced in the United States. It has been detected in wild birds, commercial poultry and backyard flocks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In late September, the HPAI virus infected a Merced County turkey ranch, causing the destruction of 64,000 birds.
California’s dairy operators, for the first time in history, are also battling the avian flu virus that has, so far, infected 133 dairies in the state and made 13 dairy workers sick with mild flu-like symptoms.
Avian flu outbreaks in California, Utah, Washington
Tulare County’s poultry outbreak was confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Oct. 16. That same week, the virus infected an egg laying farm in Cache County, Utah, costing the farmer 1.8 million chickens, while another 839,700 egg-layers were killed in Franklin County in Washington state.
Pitesky said the virus could be spreading in one of several ways, including by wild birds, workers, shared equipment or poor bio-security.
Pitesky believes more work needs to focus on the front end of the problem.
As a veterinarian he doesn’t like having to “depopulate” a chicken operation, but it is the most effective way of making sure the virus does not spread. The birds are killed by either using carbon dioxide or foam used by firefighters.
Wild birds and the virus
Pitesky would like to see more attention paid to the role wild birds play in spreading the virus.
This fall more than 6 million wild birds will use the Pacific Flyway to journey from Alaska to Patagonia and some of those sick birds will land temporarily in the Central Valley, Pitesky said.
Dairy lagoons become an attractive option for birds that normally landed in the state’s wetlands — a majority of which no longer exist.
Said Pitesky: “We need to adapt and make changes.”
