Chicken Owner Alert! Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)

(From March 16, 2022)

*UPDATE: HPAI has now been found in flocks in Minnesota in Meeker and Mower counties.

See the Minnesota Board of Animal Health press release here.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)

Recently there has been an outbreak across the United States of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). This is an influenza virus that is carried by wild birds that can affect commercial and backyard poultry. The disease can spread through direct contact between birds, through wild bird feces, or from contaminated surfaces that wild birds have contacted. While HPAI has not yet been detected in Minnesota during this outbreak, it was just recently found in Wisconsin so we are expecting it will be found in Minnesota very soon and may already be present.

HPAI typically causes sudden death in birds, but you may also notice decreased food and water consumption, lethargy, difficulty breathing, purple discoloration, diarrhea, or a drop in egg production. Unfortunately these symptoms are also common for other diseases, so diagnostic testing is required to confirm the disease. Multiple sudden deaths in a flock is very suspicious for HPAI. HPAI is not a treatable disease, and if found on a farm (or home) it must be reported to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health. Facilities with HPAI require depopulation (euthanization) of all animals, so preventing this disease from affecting our birds is extremely important.

For backyard flocks, the best prevention is keeping your birds indoors to ensure they cannot come in contact wild birds. For birds that cannot come inside, a wire mesh to keep wild birds out of the area the chickens are in can be helpful. The primary wild carriers of HPAI are ducks, geese, and gulls.

More information regarding avian influenza from the University of Minnesota is available here: https://extension.umn.edu/poultry-health/avian-influenza-basics-urban-and-backyard-poultry-owners If you have any questions about your birds please feel free to contact the clinic.