Illinois has escaped bird flu lightly, farming advocate says

[April 27, 2022]  By Elyse Kelly | The Center Square contributor

(The Center Square) – Birds around the country are dropping dead because of the flu, posing a threat to farmers in Illinois and around the U.S.

First reported in January, avian influenza has made its way into wild and domestic flocks from the Midwest to the East Coast. In an effort to prevent its spread, roughly 27 million birds have either died or been destroyed, CNET reported.

Tasha Bunting, associate director of Commodity and Livestock Programs for the Illinois Farm Bureau, said so far Illinois has been lucky.

“There have been three confirmed cases of avian influenza here in Illinois, and the last one was at the end of March, so fortunately we’re not seeing the large number of outbreaks occurring here in Illinois that we have seen in other cases,” she told The Center Square.

Poultry farmers are increasing biosecurity measures like disinfecting and monitoring trucks coming and going.

“We have not seen any commercial flocks testing positive for avian influenza; so far all of these have either been occurring in wild birds or in backyard productions,” Bunting said.

Will, McLean and Carroll counties are the only locations that have seen positive cases so far. The first was in a flock of wild geese and the latter two in small backyard bird operations that included ducks and guineas, according to Bunting.

While Illinois has escaped mass infection so far, this year’s outbreak of avian influenza in the U.S. is the worst in seven years. The last severe virus outbreak took place in 2014-15, Bunting said. In wild birds, the death toll this year has surpassed the previous outbreak.

Flickr / USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Thankfully, she added, agriculture experts have learned a lot since then and are doing a better job of monitoring the disease to keep their flocks safe.

The virus has prompted the Illinois Department of Agriculture to issue precautions and an emergency rule canceling all live bird exhibitions and sales to help prevent the spread.

The emergency rule, issued earlier this month, will be in effect for up to 150 days, but the department will review the rule based on available information every 45 days for revision.

Bunting said the rule will mostly affect 4-H programs, not commercial farmers.

“There’s no poultry exhibits or swap meets or flea markets or anything where live birds would be kind of co-mingling with one another, and that is in an effort to help prevent the spread of avian influenza from flock to flock or group to group,” she said.

Fortunately, the virus is easily killed by warmer temperatures and sanitization, according to Bunting. Veterinarians who study the disease are hopeful the advent of spring and the end of migration will see the virus fizzle out.

“Hopefully, we’re on the downhill slide to more and more cases being announced, but we still do have a few weeks to go until we get to some of those warmer temperatures,” Bunting said.