Arkansas Avian Influenza | Bird Flu Biosecurity Prevention & Updates

Confirmed Avian Influenza Case in Arkansas -

Commercial and Backyard Poultry Keepers Urged to Review Biosecurity

Oct. 6, 2022 - Avian influenza has been confirmed in Madison County, Arkansas.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) confirmed the presence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in an Arkansas commercial poultry operation. Reports indicate that the virus is being carried by certain types of waterfowl within our migratory flyway. This indicates that the affected area could spread.

To mitigate the disease risk from contact with the birds or their droppings the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Division strongly recommends taking the following steps for the next 30 days, especially within our northwest quadrant:

Keep your birds indoors or covered to prevent exposure to wild or migratory birds.
Restrict access to any source of water that may have been contaminated by wild birds.
Implement strict biosecurity on the premises. Alert all farm personnel of the increased risk of HPAI. Especially, focus biosecurity methods on preventing any exposure to wild waterfowl or their droppings.
Monitor all flocks for increased mortality or clinical signs and report any concerns to your veterinarian, the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Division at 501-823-1746, or your local Arkansas Cooperative Extension County Agent. Find your county office.

Please be advised that the next step to control disease may involve a quarantine of your premise, which would mandate the above measure. For more information on Avian Influenza or Biosecurity, we encourage you to visit the USDA’s Defend the flock website.

Download Update from Dept of Ag

Can highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) affect humans?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the recent HPAI detections in birds do not present an immediate public health concern. No human cases of these avian influenza viruses have been detected in the United States. As a reminder, the proper handling and cooking of poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 ˚F kills bacteria and viruses.

How do I keep my birds safe from avian influenza?

Biosecurity is a very important tool to use to prevent entry of a disease into your flock. It is extremely important that anyone involved with poultry production should review their premise Biosecurity procedures and protocols. This should be done by small backyard hobby flock owners and growers of commercial poultry to protect the health of their birds. Commercial poultry growers should follow company Biosecurity guidelines and work closely with their flock supervisors.

Hobby/ backyard/ small flock owners can follow these procedures:

Recognize the signs of illness.
You as the poultry owner know your birds and in fact you probably look at your birds more than once a day. As such you can detect early signs of illness such as a change in the bird’s behavior; you just know that your birds are just not acting right.

There are many poultry diseases but typically some of the first signs of illness are:

a drop or cessation of egg production
lack of appetite
sneezing, gasping
diarrhea
drop in water consumption
discharges from the eye and/or nostril
ruffled feathers, huddling
bird keeping to itself

Do Not Bring Disease Home With You
If you purchase new birds make sure you look at them closely (even if from a reputable source) to check for signs of illness. This also is correct if it is your own bird returning from a poultry exhibit. Admittedly, poultry exhibitors are trying to place at a show and a sick bird does not win. Unfortunately, it is possible that a bird could still be incubating a disease and some diseases cause few signs unless a bird becomes stressed.

It is always best to isolate (quarantine) new and returning birds away from your home flock for a period of at least 30 days. Most diseases should manifest within this quarantine period. Isolate the birds as far away from your home flock as you can (at least 100 feet, if possible) and be sure and care for these quarantined birds last. Since equipment such as crates, nest boxes, etc could be contaminated with feces, exudates, cages, etc that contain disease organisms it is best to not borrow equipment. If that is not possible then thoroughly clean and disinfect the equipment before taking it onto your premise and before and after usage.

If you visit an area where there are waterfowl (such as ponds, lakes, and hunting) or areas with poultry make sure you change clothes and shoes and wash your hands before checking on your birds.

Clean and disinfect.
Keep poultry facilities clean and free of weeds, debris, spilled feed etc. In addition, clean areas around your poultry pens and facilities

Practice good vermin control.
Mice and rats can carry diseases that can infect your birds. They can also attract snakes. Fly, buffalo gnat, and mosquito control are also important since these insects can carry and spread diseases. Wild birds should be excluded from your poultry pens as well. Secure poultry pens are necessary to exclude other wildlife, which may be predators of your poultry or could bring in diseases. Although not vermin, pets should also be kept out of the poultry pens.

Keep away/Restrict visitors
Visitors could accidentally contaminate your poultry. Restrict visitors to your farm/poultry facility. Have all visitors clean their shoes/boots and disinfect before visiting your poultry flock. A pair of boots for visitors to wear and a pair you wear just around your birds are even better. Keep your poultry pens and facilities locked to prevent access.

Get Help/Report the Unusual
If you see something in your flock unusual or is “just not right” get help immediately. Contact your local veterinarian, local county extension agent, Extension poultry veterinarian, state veterinarian, or USDA hotline. If you have a bird die contact your state or university diagnostic laboratory about submitting the bird for testing.

For more information visit the APHIS Defend the Flock Resource Center

For questions on poultry diseases, care, and husbandry contact your local county Extension office or contact the numbers listed below:

Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Division Headquarters. info@agriculture.arkansas.gov, (501) 823-1746
John G. Nilz, DVM, Arkansas State Veterinarian. john.nilz@agriculture.arkansas.gov, 501- 297-2250
Blake Walters. Livestock and Poultry Field Services. blake.walters@agriculture.arkansas.gov, (870) 519-0725
F. Dustan Clark, DVM, Arkansas Extension Poultry Veterinarian: fdclark@uark.edu, 479-957-4245

What is avian influenza?

Avian Influenza | Biosecurity | Farm & Ranch | Arkansas Extension

Avian Influenza, commonly known as “bird flu" or "AI," is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A Influenza viruses. The disease is carried by many wild bird species including migratory waterfowl like ducks and geese, which show few if any clinical signs of the disease. Influenza in birds is very contagious and can cause severe illness and death in domestic species such as chickens and turkeys.

What do the N and H mean?

There are many different subtypes of the influenza type A virus. The virus has two types of proteins that project from the surface of the virus. These proteins are called Hemagglutinin (H) and Neuraminidase (N). With 16 different types of H proteins and 9 different types of N proteins, many different combinations of H and N proteins are possible.

The current avian influenza outbreak in the USA is a Highly Pathogenic H5N1 virus. The disease has been detected in Arkansas poultry as of October 6, 2022.

How infectious is it?

The virus is also classified by pathogenicity -- the ability to cause disease in domestic chickens. There are two types of pathogenicity: low and high. Low pathogenic viruses usually do not cause illness whereas highly pathogenic viruses spread rapidly and cause high mortality in poultry. The types of Influenza viruses of greatest concern are the highly pathogenic and any H5 and H7 virus, since they have the ability to change from low pathogenic to high pathogenic.

Symptoms of Avian Influenza Infection in Poultry

Avian Influenza has a variable incubation period in birds depending on the virus dose, poultry species infected, route of exposure, and several other factors. The symptoms exhibited by an infected bird also vary and depend on the pathogenicity of the virus.

Some of the possible symptoms are: depression, diarrhea, dehydration, appetite loss, weight loss, huddling, a drop in egg production and respiratory symptoms such as cough, sneeze, and sinusitis. Lesions that could be observed include: a bloody nasal discharge, facial swelling, blue discoloration of the face, under-the-skin hemorrhaging, tracheal inflammation, nasal inflammation and hemorrhages on the shanks and in the proventriculus, which is part of the bird’s digestive system. There is no acceptable or practical treatment for poultry infected with high pathogenic avian influenza.

Avian influenza viruses do not usually affect people; however, rare cases of human infection from certain strains of Avian Influenza viruses have been reported.

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Avian Influenza and Arkansas Poultry