June 21, 2023

 

Petition to USDA calls for incentivising producers who properly plan for culling birds infected by avian influenza

 

 

 

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has petitioned the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), asking the government to "incentivise producers to adequately plan for the rapid killing of infected and exposed animals" that are affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

 

AWI's petition references the 2018 APHIS rule that requires producers to have an approved biosecurity plan that is audited at least every two years in order to be eligible for avian flu claims. Biosecurity plans are seen as critical to protecting flocks and reducing the risk of disease.

 

The petition, however, calls for more producer incentives before the USDA could pay claims for the loss of a flock due to an avian flu outbreak.

 

"The ongoing HPAI outbreak has been an animal welfare nightmare that has caused untold suffering not only for the birds who are actually infected but for potentially healthy birds as well," said Dena Jones, AWI's farmed animal programme director. "Unfortunately, if one infection is confirmed, every single bird at the location must be killed — even if that means killing millions of potentially uninfected birds."

 

The petition claims more humane methods can be used for the mass killings.

 

AWI reported that one controversial method used to kill large numbers of birds during the current outbreak is "ventilation shutdown plus" (VSD+). VSD+ involves turning off the airflow in a barn and ratcheting up the heat to above 104 degrees, leaving trapped birds to die from heat stroke over several hours.

 

It said VSD+ likely causes extreme suffering, and 3,500 veterinary professionals have gone on record to oppose its use. Nevertheless, according to an AWI analysis of USDA records, between February 2022 and March 2023, at least 44.9 million birds — nearly 77% of the commercial birds impacted in the United States — were killed in depopulations using VSD+ alone or in combination with other methods.

 

By comparison, the primary depopulation methods used during the 2014-2015 HPAI outbreak — considered at the time to be the largest and most serious animal health disease incident in US history — were water-based foam and carbon dioxide (CO2) gassing.

 

After the USDA noticed depopulation delays during that outbreak, particularly on layer operations with hundreds of thousands or millions of birds, the department established a policy that depopulations must occur within 24 to 48 hours of avian flu being detected. Furthermore, the department sanctioned the use of VSD+, essentially as a method of last resort to be used only when AWI claims other, more humane alternatives are not available.

  

Even with the recent widespread use of VSD+, the USDA's depopulation timeline has not been met in a majority of cases involving large flocks (at least 100,000 birds), according to AWI's analysis. Of the 37 depopulation events of large flocks that involved VSD+, nearly two-thirds took at least three days to complete. In the most extreme cases, in which at least one million birds were involved, depopulation took more than two weeks.

 

"Clearly, the size of an operation creates logistical challenges for performing depopulation in a timely manner, specifically within the USDA's goal of 24-48 hours. These challenges are undoubtedly exacerbated by a lack of preparedness," AWI wrote. "Because the USDA has declined to limit the size of operations, the only way to better ensure that depopulation can be carried out pursuant to USDA's goal of 24-48 hours is to incentivise better preparation."

 

According to AWI, other countries around the world hit hard by HPAI — including Canada, the United Kingdom and much of the European Union — have avoided using depopulation methods that rely on heat stroke, and since the 2014-2015 outbreak, numerous depopulation methods considered more humane have become available.

 

The AWI petition requests APHIS to exercise its authority to require audited emergency action plans that prioritise the use of more humane methods of depopulation as a condition for HPAI-related payments. These plans should include detailed descriptions of procedures to:

 

    - Depopulate flocks within 24 to 48 hours in a manner that rapidly renders individual animals unconscious; 

 

    - Avoid the use of methods, such as VSD+ and others, categorised by the American Veterinary Medical Association as "permitted under constrained circumstances";

 

Minimise pain and distress from catching, handling and confining birds during depopulation.

 

- Food Safety News