Bird flu in poultry at a Suffolk County farm along with the infection of several wild and domestic birds at a Putnam County learning center have led the state this week to call on New Yorkers to be vigilant.

The highly contagious disease rarely infects humans but can travel through cattle as well as birds.

Only one death has been associated with bird flu in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although there have been 67 confirmed human cases of the disease.

Forty of those cases came from dairy and 23 from poultry operations with the rest of unknown origin. None have been recorded in New York state; the most cases, 38, were in California.

All poultry producers, from small backyard to large commercial operations, are being asked to review their biosecurity plans and take precautions to protect their birds.

Poultry biosecurity materials and checklists may be found on the USDA’s “Defend the Flock” website.

While New Yorkers are aware of bird flu because of the steep increase in egg prices, the United States Department of Agriculture says “the impact on our economy could be severe and international trade can be impacted.”

Biosecurity, the USDA explains, is both structural — meaning how poultry is housed in coops or pens — and operational, meaning procedures and practices are consistently followed.

This involves keeping visitors to a minimum, washing hands before and after being in contact with poultry, wearing boot covers and changing clothes after contact with a flock, and disinfecting tools and equipment.

In addition to practicing good biosecurity, poultry owners are to keep their birds away from wild ducks and geese and their droppings. Outdoor access for poultry should be limited at this time.

To report sick birds, unexplained high number of deaths, or sudden drops in egg production, poultry farmers are asked to contact the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Division of Animal Industry at 518-457-3502 or the USDA at 866-536-7593.

There are two types of avian influenza (AI) that are identified as H5N1, according to the United States Department of Agriculture: One is low pathogenic (LPAI) and the other is highly pathogenic (HPAI).

Pathogenicity refers to the ability of the virus to produce disease. HPAI H5N1, often referred to as the “Asian” H5N1, is the type causing worldwide concern. LPAI H5N1, often referred to as the “North American” H5N1, is of less concern, the USDA says.

Strains of HPAI have been detected and eradicated three times in the United States: in 1924, 1983, and 2004, according to the USDA, which stresses that no significant human illness resulted from these outbreaks. 

“New Yorkers are encouraged to avoid direct contact with sick or dead wild birds and poultry, especially waterfowl and raptors, and hunters are reminded to not harvest sick or dead animals,” said Sean Mahar, interim commissioner of the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, in a release from the governor’s office this week. “People should report unusual wildlife mortalities to their local DEC regional office.”

Cattle

“We encourage everyone who keeps poultry and livestock to be vigilant about minimizing their animals’ exposure to the virus and to wild bird populations and practice good biosecurity measures,” said the state’s Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball in the release.

Ball told The Enterprise last summer that the greatest threat with cattle was to the milk supply. 

“There’s two things here that concern us a great deal,” Ball said. 

The first is that, when cattle catch this respiratory virus, “they go off feed, and their milk production drops off considerably, so you’re going to have an economic effect,” he said, explaining that it generally is about 10 percent of a herd that’s infected.

The second concern is cattle becoming a nexus for the disease, and passing it on to other kinds of agricultural species. 

“For poultry,” Ball said, “it is fatal. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it.” 

It’s so bad, in fact, that Ball said the only way to manage the spread among birds is to exterminate infected flocks.

Ball said this week that, since avian influenza was most recently detected in the state in a backyard poultry operation in 2022, his department has taken proactive measures to prevent its spread.

Ag and Markets recently announced that it is implementing new testing initiatives on dairy farms as part of its aggressive response to the outbreak of HPAI in livestock in other states.

According to the USDA, there have been 944 confirmed cases of HPAI in cattle across the country, occurring altogether in 16 states.

New York is not one of those states. California has had the most outbreaks at over 75.

In addition to the new testing initiative, New York has adopted several preventative measures to protect animal and human health since the first detection of HPAI in dairy cattle in Texas in March 2024.

In April, June, and August 2024, the department issued orders on import requirements for dairy cattle coming into New York as well as testing requirements for lactating dairy cattle entering fairs or exhibitions. These orders continue to remain in place.

The USDA offers several support programs that are available to all dairy farmers as well as programs available only to dairy producers with HPAI-positive herds. These programs include tools to support biosecurity planning and implementation as well as financial support programs to offset costs associated with HPAI testing, veterinary expenses, personal-protective-equipment purchases, milk disposal, and milk losses.

Ultimately, Ball told The Enterprise last summer, the state seems to be in a good position to ward off the threat of the virus, and he believes that it can be avoided entirely, at least as far as cattle are concerned.

“I have to believe, I want to believe, and I do believe that we can keep it out of our state by practicing good biosecurity on the farms and watching very closely what’s happening,” he said.