US Poultry Industry Feels Safe from Bird Flu

When millions of Americans sit down to a turkey feast on Thanksgiving, many of them may have a fleeting thought about bird flu as they lift that first forkful of roasted turkey into their mouths. But poultry growers and poultry industry officials say that Americans have nothing to worry about and the industry is safe from the various strains of bird flu that have been topping the news in recent months. Bird flu, such as the dangerous H5N1 strain, have ravaged poultry farms in Asia and are now spreading to parts of Europe. But the reason American poultry farmers believe our birds are safer than those in other countries is that the farm birds are kept confined inside, and wild birds and people are kept out.

On a typical turkey farm in Minnesota, the state that produces the most turkeys in the US, the birds have very little contact with humans. Very few visitors are allowed inside the barns, and what farm employees do enter are required to shower and change clothes before going in. They wear disposable plastic booties to avoid tracking in germs, and automated systems provide feed and water for the birds. The sides of the barns are open to allow fresh air inside, but they are firmly screened to keep out migratory birds that could potentially carry in bird flu. Once a month the barns are inspected and treated by exterminators to control rodents that might track in viruses. Chicken farms are beginning to follow similar strategies to ensure that flocks are kept disease-free.

Poultry farm operations in America are vastly different from the way chickens are raised in Asia and some European countries. Overseas, ducks, chickens, and other farm fowl run loose and live close to other livestock, coming in contact with people regularly. They are sold live in open-air markets where they can easily become infected by wild animals and pass infection along to other birds and possibly people.

Bird flu typically spreads from one bird to another via contact with droppings or respiratory secretions. Health officials around the world are worried that a dangerous strain such as the H5N1 strain currently making the rounds could mutate into a version that could infect humans and quickly spread into a pandemic around the world, with the potential to kill millions of people. The viruses are not new; variations of bird flu have turned up regularly for decades. There are two main groups of bird flu: high pathogenicity, which are the deadliest kinds, and low pathogenicity, which results in less serious forms of illness. The H5N1 strain is a high path strain. The last known outbreaks of high-path bird flu strains in the United States were a small outbreak in Texas last year and a slightly larger one in Virginia and Pennsylvania over 20 years ago. Poultry producers have tests to spot the milder forms, which turn up often, but those tests will also detect the more dangerous forms.

Since poultry industry operations switched from open-range to confinement, data has shown that bird flu among turkeys has dropped dramatically. But critics of the confinement approach to large-scale poultry farming aren’t enthusiastic. Dr. Michael Greger, director of public health and animal agriculture for the Humane Society of the United States, said the biosecurity measures in place by the United States, such as banning poultry imports from Southeast Asia and monitoring migratory birds, are important. But Greger maintains that the big confinement operations may actually add to the threat of a global pandemic. "I think they're overconfident in their ability to keep these bugs out," Greger said. "You can do your best, but unfortunately these bugs still get inside." He adds that flu viruses may have more opportunities to mutate with so many hosts packed into smaller spaces. And the stress of being cooped up so closely serves to weaken birds’ immune systems, making them more vulnerable. The solution, Greger proposed, is to reduce stress on birds by giving them more space, cleaner conditions, and better genetics to allow them to fight off infections more easily.

Organic poultry producers are concerned about the threat of bird flu, but they are not ready yet to turn their free-range farms into confinement coops just yet. George Siemon, CEO of the Organic Valley Family of Farms, says that their first line of defense against bird flu is raising healthier birds. Growers closely monitor their flocks and neighboring farms, and if a hint of an outbreak occurs, they keep their chickens indoors and begin testing immediately. Siemon, who has is own farm near La Crosse, Wisconsin, says that the federal government requires organic birds to have access to the outdoors, and consumers expect that. Research has shown that organically raised birds have stronger immune systems than confined animals, and organic farmers have fewer problems with bird flu as a result. Still, Siemon said, organic producers will comply with any emergency standards that might be imposed by the government if the threat escalates. "When you get down to human health you can never be too concerned about this," he said.