April 3, 2006

 

Live poultry markets a risk for entry of bird flu into US

 

 

Live poultry markets can be a link between migratory birds, which may be carrying the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, and domestic poultry flocks, allowing the virus a portal to enter US commercial poultry flocks, said Charles Beard, a bird flu expert.

 

Speaking at a J.P. Morgan-sponsored teleconference from New York on Thursday (Mar 30), Beard said there are about 85 live bird markets, where consumers can purchase from a variety of birds offered for sale, within the New York City metropolitan area.

 

He expressed concerns that the bird flu virus could enter such a market via migratory birds then be transmitted to other birds and carried back to commercial flocks.

 

The highly pathogenic H5N1 Asian strain of bird flu is deadly to many species including domestic chickens, turkeys and other poultry. The disease is carried by migratory birds and typically spreads along their flyways. Bird flu comes in many forms, most of which are low pathogenic variants that may not even result in symptoms in infected birds.

 

There are other ways the virus could find its way into the US as well, such as being carried in by migratory birds to backyard flocks or via smuggled birds such as fighting cocks from countries where bird flu cases have occurred, Beard said.

 

Beard said the most likely place for the virus to enter the country would be in Alaska, which is on a flyway for migratory birds from South-east Asia and Australia. Alaska is a key spot for the US, and the USDA has increased its surveillance there for avian influenza by six-fold, Beard said. As the Northern Hemisphere warms up, migration will occur northward from South-east Asia.

 

Concerning measures being taken by poultry producers in the US, Beard said the industry is already utilizing bio-security practices. However, if a case of bird flu were to be discovered in Alaska, it would boost bio-security measures even more across the country.

 

Beard said there must be very strong efforts from government and industry to keep the H5N1 bird flu virus out of the country. While he said he thinks the virus could be eradicated from commercial flocks if it does arrive, it would be more difficult to do now than when other forms of avian influenza hit in the early 1900s because there are so many more birds produced now. The US produces about 8 billion broilers a year.

 

He also said that as of Thursday, there were 27 countries with reported cases of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in commercial poultry flocks. More have had isolated cases of the virus found in migratory birds. Swans and some geese appear to be more susceptible to the virus than other migratory birds.

 

Beard recommends that all commercial flocks be locked down for three days before they are sent to slaughter, which would resolve the question about the possibility that a flock could be mistakenly given a clean bill of health a few days before slaughter then somehow become infected before being shipped to a processor.

 

However, Beard sees no real risk for a mistaken identification of the disease. He said the highly pathogenic bird flu moves so rapidly through poultry flocks that it would be obvious due to the death losses, and no company would process sick or dying birds.