WattAgNet: Oregon has second case of highly pathogenic avian influenza

Backyard holding including chickens, turkeys and ducks is infected
Release Date: 2015-02-16
The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is responding to a detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a flock of backyard birds near Tumalo in Deschutes County. This marks the second outbreak of HPAI in Oregon, although no commercial flocks in the state have been affected.

ODA, working with the USDA’s Animal Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is in the process of setting up a quarantine zone around the property to restrict movement of domestic birds in and out of the area. Currently, the property is secured and there have been no additional detections of HPAI in the area.

The flock of about 90 mixed poultry and other domestic birds includes chickens, ducks, and turkeys that have had access to a couple of ponds on the property that are also frequented by migratory wild waterfowl. Avian influenza naturally resides in wild birds and it is fairly common for waterfowl to carry various strains of the virus, ODA stated. HPAI has also been reported in backyard birds in Washington and Idaho, and in wild birds in all three Pacific Northwest states.

Oregon’s first detection of HPAI was in a flock of backyard birds in Douglas County in December 2014.

ODA stressed that Backyard bird owners practice good biosecurity and take steps that prevent contact between their birds and wild birds.