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Safeguard your farm: Protect you and your livestock from HPAI

Safeguard your farm: Protect you and your livestock from HPAI

UPDATED MARCH 2024

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), also known as “bird flu,” is a severe and highly contagious disease. Caused by avian influenza virus A (H5N1), it’s often spread by wild birds like ducks and geese during their migrations, especially during the spring and fall. When spread to domestic poultry, like chickens and turkeys, HPAI can be deadly and wipe out entire flocks in just a matter of days.

While HPAI primarily occurs in birds, poultry, and some mammals, for the first time in U.S history, there have been detections of HPAI A (H5N1) infections in dairy cows and goats.

Prevent the Spread

The situation of HPAI infection risk in livestock like goats, sheeps, pigs, and cattle is rapidly evolving, but there are steps you can take to prevent the spread.

  • Keep poultry away from livestock
  • Use separate water sources and feedstuffs for livestock and poultry
  • Keep livestock away from ponds and wild waterfowl
  • Monitor livestock for symptoms and report illnesses quickly
Help protect your livestock from avian influenza. Infographic Source: University of Minnesota Extension.

Source: University of Minnesota Extension

HUMAN INFECTION

Avian (bird) influenza (flu) A viruses, including A (H5N1), do not usually infect humans. However, there have been some rare cases of human infection with these viruses mainly through unprotected, direct physical contact or close exposure with sick or dead birds, and infected animals (including, recently, infected dairy cattle livestock).

According to CDC’s interim recommendations, people should:

  • Avoid unprotected exposures to sick or dead animals including wild birds, poultry, other domesticated birds, and other wild or domesticated animals (including cattle), as well as with animal carcasses, raw milk, feces, litter, or materials contaminated by birds or other animals with confirmed or suspected HPAI A(H5N1)-virus infection.
  • Refrain from preparing or eating uncooked or undercooked food or products, such as unpasteurized (raw) milk, or products made from raw milk such as cheeses, from animals with confirmed or suspected HPAI A(H5N1)-virus infection (avian influenza or bird flu).
“At this time, there continues to be no concern about the safety and availability of pasteurized milk products nationwide. Pasteurization has continually proven to inactivate bacteria and viruses, like influenza, in milk and is required for any milk entering interstate commerce.” – FDA

Find more specific recommendations, like wearing proper PPE (personal protective equipment), for farmers; poultry, backyard flock, and livestock owners; and workers.

HPAI TOOLKIT

UMASH has prepared a toolkit to help poultry farmers enhance prevention with biosecurity protocols, identify the signs and symptoms of HPAI in birds, and stay connected to additional resources from USDA – APHIS and state departments of agriculture.

Learn more from Dr. Jeff Bender

Read more from UMASH Director and University of Minnesota School of Public Health Professor, Jeff Bender, DVM, as he answers key questions and provides insights about Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) among wild birds and livestock, in these articles from published by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP).