County preps for bird flu

CELINA - Local agriculture and county government officials are preparing for a potential avian influenza outbreak.

Cooper Farms veterinarian Dr. Tim Barman during Thursday's Mercer County agriculture breakfast meeting in Celina gave an update on the plans.

"I've been in practice for 42 years now and this is the scariest animal disease thing I have ever seen," he said. "If you get this in your flock, it's done."

Barman said he believes the county may dodge the virus this year.

"I'm confident we'll be OK this year without getting the virus but I'm worried about next year," he said.

Barman said he recently participated in a conference call among officials from the county sheriff's office and Emergency Management Agency and state veterinarian Dr. Tony Forshey to clarify responsibilities.

"The incident commander would be in charge and he or she would be appointed by Forshey and (the U.S. Department of Agriculture)," Barman said. That person likely would be a state or federal veterinarian.

County EMA Director Mike Robbins said federal and state officials would be in charge while local officials would provide support such as gathering supplies and establishing roadblocks around quarantined areas at infected farms.

"The federal and state government would pretty much be in charge," Robbins said referring to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. "This is a different situation than if we had a tornado."

An outbreak of avian influenza would be financially devastating in poultry-dense Mercer County, Barman said.

The disease is carried in the droppings of wild waterfowl such as ducks, geese and shorebirds and is deadly to domesticated poultry.

It has so decimated layer hen flocks in Iowa, the state has dropped to No. 2 in egg production behind Ohio, Barman said. Ohio ranks ninth in turkey production. The current strain was first detected in British Columbia in December 2014. So far, 205 cases have been reported in the U.S. with almost 45 million birds either dead from the virus, euthanized or scheduled to be euthanized, he said. Two new cases were reported Wednesday, he said.

The survival rate for infected poultry is very low with turkeys being more susceptible than chickens. Infected birds that survive are euthanized to prevent the spread of the virus, he said. The illness can kill nearly an entire flock within 48 hours.

In the event of an outbreak, a 1.8-mile area around an infected farm would be quarantined, meaning nothing could move off that farm, Barman said. Residents with non-infected farms within the quarantine area would face stringent biosecurity testing and permitting requirements before moving anything off their farms, he said. A 6-mile surveillance area would be placed around any infected farm. Birds at farms inside the surveillance area would not be automatically euthanized but would be regularly tested for the virus. People would not be quarantined.

"They (federal and state officials) would go door to door to find any poultry in that surveillance area," Barman said.

Approved methods of disposing of dead birds include composting, burial and incineration, he said.

Humans are one of the biggest vectors of the disease and strong biosecurity measures remain the best method to control the disease, he said.

"New, clean footwear is a must and cleaning and disinfecting equipment entering barns and premises," he said.

Poultry owners should look for changes in bird behavior, appearance and noise level as indicators of illness.  Barman said Cooper officials have been working with contract growers to beef up biosecurity, the best defense against the virus.

The virus has not been detected in any wild or domestic birds in Ohio. No human case of the illness has been reported in the U.S. and chicken, turkeys and eggs are safe to consume, Barman stressed.

Experts believe the virus will be around for three to five years, Barman said.

The next agriculture breakfast meeting is 7:30 a.m. Aug. 6.