United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy recently suggested that farmers should consider letting bird flu run through the flocks to identify birds that are immune to it.
On River to River, Dr. Yuko Sato, Iowa State University Poultry Extension vet, responded to that proposal and answered more of our questions about the disease destroying flocks, raising egg prices and threatening wildlife.
Can farmers let bird flu run its course?
“It's a disease control issue, where if you let the virus run its course it's just going to continue to spread all over the place,” Sato said. “It becomes really hard to do ... biocontainment, basically keeping the virus from spreading to other places.”
Additionally, the disease causes almost 100% mortality in birds, so letting the birds who have contracted it continue to be sick prolongs their suffering.
“As a veterinarian and considering animal welfare and health of the birds, I cannot be in support of something like that.”
Sato said as she understands it, the goal of the Department of Health is to eradicate the virus rather than try to live with it, so letting the infection run wild won’t solve the problem.
Why do farmers depopulate?
The current approach to managing bird flu is to use biocontainment methods to keep the virus out. However, when a flock becomes infected, the practice is to slaughter the entire flock.
“Every effort should be made to contain the virus so you don't spread it to other farms,” Sato said.
This process is usually referred to as culling.
“I like to use the term depopulation instead of culling,” Sato said. “Culling, to me, is a luxury term. So, you know, let's say, for example, the bird is not doing well, or it's not producing eggs, or not putting on weight. You can cull a bird, but depopulation is more of an emergency procedure where your goal is to control whatever situation, whether that's an outbreak or some sort of emergency.”
Will we continue to see high egg prices?
There's been an economic impact at grocery store shelves as the bird flu has continued to hit farms and wildlife. Sato said we can expect to see high egg prices continue, since the supply issue is not a quick fix.
“Obviously the outbreak itself is costing the industry lots and lots of birds,” she said. “It takes time for the birds to be able to get to an age where they are able to produce eggs.”
Additionally, the Easter holidays creates more demand for eggs.
Are eggs safe to consume?
The good news is, though they're more expensive because of the bird flu, eggs on the shelves are safe to eat.
“That's the whole point of the fact that we do a surveillance program,” Sato said. “Every poultry producer, they're routinely testing seemingly negative birds screening for influenza. There's also no evidence that the flu is transmitted from safely handled and thoroughly handled poultry products as well.”
Additionally, a sick bird is not going to produce eggs, Sato said.
Who can get bird flu?
“Influenza is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can pass from animals to people and vice versa,” Sato said. “So it's not new news, but this Eurasian strain of influenza has been known and documented globally to spread to people and other animals.”
The people most likely to get it are in close proximity to poultry. There currently isn’t any person to person spread of the virus, according to the CDC.
When pets contract bird flu, it can look like a neurologic disease, similar to rabies. If your dog or cat is having a seizure, acting depressed or delirious, those symptoms could potentially be signs of influenza, Sato said.
She added that the virus can easily be killed and inactivated by heat, so processed pet food will not pass the virus, while raw food or milk could.
To hear this conversation, listen to River to River, hosted by Ben Kieffer. Caitlin Troutman produced this episode.
