State and federal officials said they are looking for better ways to kill poultry flocks rapidly if bird flu hits the United States again, and that millions of fowl could be turned into compost or buried on the farms where they die. USDA chief veterinarian John Clifford told lawmakers, “We’ve urged states and industry to develop site- and county-level specific depopulation plans for landfilling or composting birds.”
Authorities rely on destroying infected flocks as a way to prevent the virus from multiplying or spreading. “Our experience in the Midwest showed that the biggest roadblock to efficient depopulation, which is key to reducing the spread of the virus, is the lack of ready sites to receive and process dead birds,” said Clifford. Some 49.5 million fowl, including 10 percent of the hens that lay eggs for table consumption, were lost in a six-month epidemic in the Midwest and Northwest last winter and spring.
In North Carolina, one of the four leading states for broiler chickens, where there are limitations on landfills and rendering facilities, “composting is recommended as the first choice for management of poultry carcasses,” said state veterinarian R. Douglas Meckes. “The compost disposal method is also a preferred biosecurity measure in that no diseased birds need to leave the farm. Rapid establishment of mortality composting windrows on site is key to disposal of birds and inactivation of the influenza virus.”
When an outbreak is discovered, officials want to cull the flock within 24 hours; a difficult goal when some poultry farms hold millions of birds. Minnesota state veterinarian Bill Hartmann said his state was assessing Canadian use of carbon dioxide gas to asphyxiate poultry. Clifford said the USDA was looking at options that include carbon dioxide. A method commonly used now is foam, similar to that used by firefighters, to cover and smother poultry. Meckes said North Carolina has held foam-training sessions and “we are determined that inadequate depopulation capability will not cause … problems in North Carolina.”
Government and industry officials also are looking for ways to strengthen safeguards against the avian influenza virus reaching poultry barns. Biosecurity lapses helped spread bird flu this spring. “Although we hope that we will not have additional or more wide-spread outbreaks, it’s very likely that wild birds will carry the virus with them when they begin migrating south in the fall,” said Clifford.
Results of a test on turkeys of a bird flu vaccine are expected in a few days, said David Swayne, director of the USDA’s Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says it was 100-percent effective in earlier test with chickens. Clifford said the department will stockpile vaccine if an effective strain is found, but it might not be used. At a minimum, he said, U.S. trading partners must be persuaded not to cut off $3-$4 billion in poultry imports while they decide if the vaccine is safe. The USDA is carrying out consultations on that point.
To read testimony submitted for the hearing or to watch a video of it, click here.
Grist looks into the question of additional financial help to poultry producers in a story by Don Carr. It’s part of a Grist series, “Meat: What’s smart, what’s right, what’s next.”