Collection of Avian #Influenza-Impacted #Wildlife in #Delaware Expanded Through DNREC-USDA Wildlife Services Effort

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DOVER, Del. (Jan. 22, 2025) – The Delmarva Avian Influenza Joint Information Center announced today that the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services are collaborating to collect sick and deceased snow geese and other wild birds that may have succumbed to the outbreak of avian influenza currently spreading throughout the state. 

The expanded statewide collection effort to help track the bird flu is funded through DNREC and the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA).

Sick or dead wild animals found in Delaware during the avian influenza outbreak or at any time of year, are to be reported to the DNREC Wildlife Section. 

Reporting deceased or ill wildlife does not guarantee that DNREC and APHIS Wildlife Services will respond to every report, only that a DNREC or APHIS Wildlife Services representative will assess the report, and if additional information is needed, may make follow-up contact.

State authorities also reiterated that the public should not pick up or handle any sick birds. 

Dead birds should not be picked up unless disposable plastic gloves are worn to handle them. This guidance also applies to waterfowl hunters – as the DNREC Wildlife Section has been made aware of hunters examining their harvest then moving ducks or geese to a game bag or carrying strap without following recommended precautions for wild birds that might have contracted avian influenza.

-- Anyone encountering sick or dead wild birds on private or public property should report their findings immediately to State authorities.

-- Report sightings of sick or dead wild birds through the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife’s sick, injured or dead wildlife reporting form.

-- Notify DDA if you find sick or dead poultry on your farm at poultry.health@delaware.gov.

If a resident finds a dead wild bird on their property and wants to remove it themselves, they should wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE), including gloves, a mask, and safety glasses, to dispose of it. 

Double-bag each dead bird found, zip-tie the bag and put it in the trash bin for pickup and disposal at a Delaware Solid Waste Authority landfill. 

Residents are also advised to carefully remove and dispose of all PPE in the dedicated trash bags and always wash their hands afterward.

Additionally, waterfowl hunters are advised to follow more focused protocols from APHISOpen this document with ReadSpeaker docReader for handling and field dressing any wild fowl they harvest in Delaware during an avian influenza outbreak.

Avian influenza is a highly contagious airborne respiratory virus that spreads quickly among birds through nasal and eye secretions and manure. 

Snow geese, which are waterfowl, are known to migrate from the Arctic and form large flocks in Delaware each winter. 

Due to close contact with thousands of other snow geese while feeding and roosting, they can get sick and die. 

It is unknown when or where the snow geese may have acquired the virus given their highly migratory nature and association with other waterfowl and waterbirds throughout the Atlantic Flyway through which they travel into Delaware and more southern states.

While the H5N1 virus has infected a small number of people across the U.S., there is no documented transmission of the virus between people in this country. Though the continued testing of people in close contact with animals infected with HPAI indicates a low risk to the general public’s health, children and pets should be kept away from wild birds and bird droppings.

If anyone in contact with wild birds or poultry begins to experience flu-like symptoms, please contact the Delaware Division of Public Health Office of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at 888-295-5156 (after hours) or 302-744-4990 (business hours) for a referral to a DPH clinic to obtain a flu swab test. 

Flu-like symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, congestion, body aches, fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea. If symptoms seem severe, including trouble breathing, chest pain or pressure, dizziness/confusion, severe muscle pain, seizure, severe weakness or unsteadiness, worsening of chronic medical conditions, or fever or cough that begin to improve and then worsen or return, please dial 911 or visit the emergency department. Let hospital staff and providers know if you have been exposed to poultry or wild birds.

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Source: Department of Health, https://news.delaware.gov/2025/01/22/collection-of-avian-influenza-impacted-wildlife-in-delaware-expanded-through-dnrec-usda-wildlife-services-effort/

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#USA, #Update on #Delaware #H5 Avian #Influenza Case on Kent County #Farm

DOVER, Del. (January 5, 2025)—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) has returned results from the Kent County, Del. poultry farm that was announced presumptive positive for H5 avian influenza on January 3, 2025. The poultry affected had highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza (HPAI) of the Eurasian lineage 2.3.4.4b with early indications that the virus is the D1.1 genotype found in wild birds; however, confirmation of the genotype is determined by sequencing. There is currently no timeline for the receipt of this data by the Delaware Department of Agriculture.

All poultry farms in the state should be monitoring flocks for any signs of increased mortality. Producers should pay particular attention to whether birds show signs of respiratory illness or distress, such as sneezing, gasping for air, coughing, and/or runny nose. Other signs of HPAI in poultry can include swelling around the eyes, neck, and head; purple discoloration of the wattles, combs, and legs; tremors, drooping wings, circling, twisting of the head and neck, or any combination; watery, green diarrhea; lack of energy, poor appetite; and a drop in egg production, or soft or thin-shelled, misshapen eggs.

Commercial poultry producers should follow the protocol of notifying the company they grow for when they see any signs of HPAI.

Backyard flock owners who notice any of the signs of HPAI or experience increased mortality in their flock should email the Delaware Poultry Health Hotline at poultry.health@delaware.gov or call 302-698-4507 and provide your contact information, flock size, location, and concerns. Backyard flock owners will be contacted if a sample needs to be taken. Do not take dead or sick birds to a lab to be tested or move them off-site.

Backyard flock owners should keep their flock from commingling with wild birds and keep them under cover to protect them from coming into contact with infected wild bird droppings. The H5N1 virus has infected a small number of people across the U.S., and there has been no documented transmission between people in the U.S. to date. While continuing testing of people in close contact with animals infected with HPAI indicates a low risk to the general public’s health, backyard flock owners should keep birds in outdoor coops and not bring birds that have been living outside into the home. Children and pets should be kept away from wild birds and bird droppings.

When adding birds to your flock, make sure to purchase them from a reputable source. The baby chicks purchased at local farm stores come from NPIP-certified flocks tested and shown to be free from avian influenza. When they are between two days and two weeks old, these chicks will typically leave the store with their new owner, so they are considered low-risk for having the disease. However, once they are about three weeks old, they are more susceptible to contracting the virus from their new environment. Make sure to keep new birds or returning show birds separated from the established home flocks for 30 days.

The Delaware Department of Agriculture requires the registration of all locations where live poultry is kept, which allows timely information on disease incidents to be sent to all poultry producers. Registration forms are available online at https://de.gov/poultry.

Delawareans are reminded not to touch or handle injured, sick, or dead birds and to use the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Sick and Dead Wildlife Reporting Form should they encounter dead or sick birds. Wild birds should not be reported to the Delaware Poultry Health Hotline, as that reporting hotline is reserved for backyard flocks and farms with poultry.

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Source: Government of Delaware State, https://news.delaware.gov/2025/01/05/update-on-delaware-h5-avian-influenza-case-on-kent-county-farm/

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#USA, #Delaware Announces First Presumptive Positive #H5 Avian #Influenza Case Detected on Kent County {#Poultry} #Farm in 2025

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DOVER, Del. (January 3, 2025) – The Delaware Department of Agriculture announced this morning that preliminary testing of a commercial broiler flock in Kent County, Del., has returned presumptive positive H5 from the University of Delaware’s Lasher Laboratory in Georgetown, part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network. Additional samples have been sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) for further confirmation.

State officials have quarantined the affected premises, and the birds on the property are being depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the affected flock will not enter the food system.

Avian influenza is a highly contagious airborne respiratory virus that spreads quickly among birds through nasal and eye secretions and manure. The virus can be spread from flock to flock, including flocks of wild birds, through contact with infected poultry, equipment, and the clothing and shoes of caretakers. This virus affects poultry, like chickens, ducks, and turkeys, and some wild bird species, such as ducks, geese, shorebirds, and raptors.

Last week, Delaware announced presumptive positive H5 results in snow geese found at Prime Hook Beach. The state is still awaiting confirmatory results from NVSL. With the assistance of the public, more than 850 wild birds, a majority of them snow geese but including Canada geese, other waterfowl, vultures, and other birds, were reported dead via the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Sick and Dead Wildlife Reporting Form. While some of these may be duplicate reports, or deaths due to other causes, officials know that more birds have succumbed to the virus, dying in places out of sight.

To better protect their flocks, poultry producers and backyard flock owners must realize that what occurs in wild birds does impact the health of their birds and that this is not only a problem along Delaware’s coast, which is where many of the reported dead birds have been located so far. In the evening hours, snow geese fly to water to roost, where they can then spread the virus in their flock. Those birds that are not sick or are strong enough to fly in the morning will then take flight, moving inland to open space, including farm fields, to forage. At this time that virus can be introduced to poultry farms and areas where backyard flocks are commingling with wildlife or are not under cover, protecting them from infected wild bird droppings. Snow geese are very mobile, flying as far into Maryland or New Jersey in a day.

Considering this new case and the prevalence of the virus in the wild bird population, all poultry owners need to increase their vigilance in protecting their flocks from contracting avian influenza by following these steps:

• Limit, monitor, and record any movement of people, vehicles, or animals on or off your farm.

• Permit only essential workers and vehicles to enter the farm to limit the chances of bringing the virus from an outside source.

• Avoid visiting other poultry farms and any unnecessary travel off the farm.

• Disinfect equipment, vehicles, footwear, and other items that come into contact with flocks.

• Keep your flock away from wild or migratory birds, especially waterfowl.

• Isolate any ill animals and contact your veterinarian.

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Source: Government of Delaware, https://dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/

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#USA, Snow #Geese Test Presumptive Positive for Avian #H5 #Influenza; #Delaware #poultry producers encouraged to take precautions

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DOVER, Del. (Dec. 28, 2024) – The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) announced today that laboratory testing conducted by the University of Delaware’s Allen Laboratory, part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, has returned presumptive positive findings of H5 avian influenza in sick and dead snow geese collected on December 27, 2024, in coastal Sussex County. 

In response to the findings, the state of Delaware has established a Joint Information Center with DNREC, DDA, the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) and the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA).

The detections mark the Delmarva region’s most recent confirmation of H5 avian influenza in wild birds since May 2022, when the virus was found through wildlife surveillance in black vultures in Harford County, Md. Avian influenza is known to be carried by wild birds, especially waterfowl, raptors, and vultures.

Avian influenza is a highly contagious airborne respiratory virus that spreads quickly among birds through nasal and eye secretions and manure. Snow geese, which are waterfowl, are known to migrate from the Arctic and form large flocks in Delaware each winter. Due to close contact with thousands of other snow geese while feeding and roosting, they can get sick and die. It is unknown when or where the snow geese may have acquired the virus given their highly migratory nature and association with other waterfowl and waterbirds throughout the Atlantic Flyway through which they travel into Delaware and more southern states.

People should not touch or handle injured, sick, or dead birds. Special attention should be paid to keep pets and children away from these wild birds and bird droppings.

Even with the ongoing detections of HPAI in wild birds, poultry, and dairy cattle in North America, continuing testing of people who are in close contact with infected animals indicates a low risk to the general public’s health. The H5N1 virus has infected very few people and has not been documented to be transmitted between people. The proper handling and cooking of all poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165°F is recommended as a general food safety precaution.

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Source: Department of Health, https://news.delaware.gov/2024/12/28/snow-geese-test-presumptive-positive-for-avian-influenza-delaware-poultry-producers-encouraged-to-take-precautions/

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#USA, Novel Influenza A #H5N1 Virus, four new cases detected in week 50/2024 {2 in #California, 1 in #Louisiana, 1 in #Delaware} (US #CDC FluView)

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Three confirmed cases and one probable influenza A(H5) case were reported to CDC this week. 

To date, human-to-human transmission of influenza A(H5) virus has not been identified in the United States.

Two of these confirmed cases were reported by the California Department of Public Health. The cases occurred in a workers aged ≥18 years at a commercial dairy cattle farm in an area where highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) viruses had been detected in cows. The individuals had mild symptoms, which they reported to local health department officials. There have now been 34 total confirmed cases and one probable case in California.

The other confirmed case was reported by the Louisiana Department of Health. This case occurred in an individual aged ≥18 years. This individual developed respiratory symptoms during week 48 and was hospitalized with their illness. A respiratory specimen was collected at the healthcare facility and tested positive for influenza A, but negative for seasonal virus subtypes. The specimen was sent to the Louisiana Public Health Laboratory for further testing, where it tested presumptive positive for influenza A(H5) virus using the CDC influenza A(H5) assay. Influenza A(H5) virus was confirmed at CDC. The investigation by public health officials identified exposure to backyard poultry prior to the patient's illness onset. The patient remains hospitalized. This is the first influenza A(H5) case in Louisiana and the first instance of severe illness from influenza A(H5) virus infection in the United States.

The probable case was reported by the Delaware Division of Public Health. The case occurred in an individual aged ≥18 years. This individual developed respiratory symptoms during week 48 and sought healthcare for their illness. A respiratory specimen was collected at the healthcare facility and tested positive for influenza A. The specimen was sent to the Delaware Public Health Laboratory for routine surveillance, where it tested presumptive positive for influenza A(H5) virus using the CDC influenza A(H5) assay. The specimen was negative for influenza A(H5) virus using diagnostic RT-PCR at CDC. The investigation by public health officials did not find any exposure to poultry or cows or consumption of raw dairy products prior to the patient's illness onset. The patient has since recovered. This is the first probable case in Delaware.

Notification of the case reported by the Louisiana Department of Health to WHO was initiated per International Health Regulations (IHR). More information regarding IHR can be found at http://www.who.int/topics/international_health_regulations/en/. 

No additional notification to WHO of the probable case or confirmed cases exposed to dairy cows in California is required per International Health Regulations (IHR).

The CSTE position statement, which includes updated case definitions for confirmed, probable, and suspected cases is available at http://www.cste.org/resource/resmgr/position_statements_files_2023/24-ID-09_Novel_Influenza_A.pdf

An up-to-date human case summary during the 2024 outbreak by state and exposure source is available at www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html

Information about avian influenza is available at https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/index.htm.

Interim recommendations for Prevention, Monitoring, and Public Health Investigations are available at https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/prevention/hpai-interim-recommendations.html.

The latest case reports on avian influenza outbreaks in wild birds, commercial poultry, backyard or hobbyist flocks, and mammals in the United States are available from the USDA at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/2022-hpai.

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Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/fluview/surveillance/2024-week-50.html

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