According to the release, this is the first detection of a highly pathogenic avian flu virus in the United States since June previous year, which led to the depopulation of almost 50 million birds and became the most expensive agricultural emergency in USA history.
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The Indiana State Department of Health is working with the Dubois County Health Department to monitor the health of workers who have had contact with infected birds to ensure they are healthy and verify that the H7N8 virus has not transmitted to people. “And so that is kind of the protocol for this disease so it doesn’t move any farther”.
“We’ve had disease before and we’ve come out of it, but this is way more devastating”, Denu says.
Comer said state and federal officials are working nearly around the clock to clean up and contain the situation. She told HAT that non-infected birds are being placed in landfills, “Birds that were not infected, but were depopulated as a precaution, can be moved off the farm and be placed in landfills”. Workers are now trying to cull sick flocks within 24 hours of diagnoses, following a goal the agency set in the autumn.
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In Indiana, the USDA quickly deployed personnel and equipment to assist the state with culling birds and testing nearby flocks, said Bret Marsh, Indiana’s state veterinarian. Research shows wild birds’ northern migration introduced the H5N2 strain starting last spring, but officials don’t know whether the fall and winter migration are to blame in Indiana. Importers also cut back on trade in the $5.7 billion poultry and egg export market, and some have already limited shipments because of this new outbreak. All affected barns will then undergo a thorough cleaning and disinfection before farmers can restock.
