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Posted in Our Blog,Outbreaks & Recalls on October 27, 2023
Could avian flu affect turkeys this Thanksgiving?
As avian flu continues to pop up in poultry farms across the county, could your Thanksgiving dinner plans be affected? Perhaps.
With less than a month away from the turkey-centric holiday, and commercial poultry farms being hit one by one with the outbreak, many Thanksgiving dinner tables may be set with a ham instead.
Avian flu cases have been in the news since early 2022, causing havoc on poultry and egg prices. At one point a dozen of eggs that were closer to $1.00 were well over $4.00. It all goes back to the high school economics lesson of supply vs demand as well as the massive losses associated with culling entire flocks.
According to reports earlier this month from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the first case of avian flu on a commercial poultry farm in six months hit a flock of 47,300 turkeys on a farm in Jerauld Couty, South Dakota.
While there is little that can be done about wild bird exposure other than heightening surveillance activities, the current response to an outbreak on a poultry farm is to cull the infected flock to prevent further spread of the virus. This removes those poultry products from commerce, thus tightening both poultry meat and egg supply as more and more flocks are affected.
This could mean smaller birds, less availability, and higher prices.
This highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has wiped out around 59 million U.S. chicken, turkeys, and other birds since the epidemic began in 2022. As a result, prices for turkey meat and eggs hit record highs last year. This year is expected to be on par.
So far there have been 845 reported outbreaks across 47 states and 420 counties.
Cal-Maine, the biggest U.S. egg producer is keeping a watchful eye on these outbreaks. “HPAI is still present in the wild bird population and the extent of possible future outbreak, particularly during the upcoming fall migration season, cannot be predicted,” says the egg giant.
Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, is a type of virus that is similar to the human influenza virus, but primarily affects birds. Avian influenza viruses have been identified in more than 100 different species of wild birds throughout the world.
While found occurring in wild species, domestic poultry and other bird/animal species are vulnerable to this infection. Ducks, geese, swans, gulls, terns, shorebirds, storks, and others can become infected. Some birds, such as ducks can carry the virus and spread it, without appearing sick.
Not entirely unlike human influenza, infected birds shed avian influenza virus in their nasal secretions, saliva, and feces. Unsuspecting birds become infected with the come in contact with these bodily fluids that contain virus shed by infected birds.
While rare, there have been cases of human infection with avian influenza viruses.
There are six main subtypes of bird flu humans are vulnerable to. These are the H3, H5, H7, H9, and H10 subtypes. Two strains, the Asian lineage H7N9 and the highly pathogenic Asian lineage H5N1 flu viruses have been responsible for most of the human illnesses, with H5N1 being the most serious illness with the highest mortality rate.
Humans become infected through similar pathways as birds. A human becomes exposed when the virus is aerosolized in droplets or dust that gets into a person’s eyes, nose, mouth, or is inhaled. The virus can also enter the human body if infected birds or contaminated surfaces are touched and then the person touches their eyes, nose, or mouth.
Most human cases of human influenza involve occupational or recreational exposure. Beyond what the normal person interacts with birds in a day. One of the earlier cases of human infection with bird flu was a poultry worker who was reported to be participating in the culling (depopulating) of an infected flock.
The infection was discovered when the worker began reporting fatigue for a few days. No other symptoms were observed. The patient was isolated and treated with oseltamivir, an influenza antiviral drug.
While it is possible for human cases to report no symptoms, most will vary in severity much like human influenza.
Mild illness may include conjunctivitis (eye redness) or mild flu-like upper respiratory symptoms.
More severe illness may result in pneumonia requiring hospitalization and a fever (temperature of 100 °F or greater) or feeling feverish (without actual fever).
Additional symptoms may include:
Less common symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, or seizures.
While even rarer than a human becoming infected by a bird, the spread of avian influenza from one infected person to another person is possible.
Viruses continually mutate and change, allowing them to spread to larger populations. For this reason, early diagnosis of human infection is especially important from a public health perspective. Monitoring these infections is paramount to preventing harmful mutations and further human outbreaks.
There have been no reports of human-to-human transmission of bird flu in the United States, however, there have been probably cases in other countries.
The CDC reports the following examples of international human-to-human avian influenza cases:
If you’d like to know more Food Safety News, like, “Could Avian Flu Affect Turkeys This Thanksgiving?” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)