Dr. Patricia Fox, DVM, National Epidemiology Officer for Avian Health for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will lead a virtual Q&A with poultry growers to address questions and concerns about avian influenza. The free session, part of APHIS’ annual Bird Health Awareness Week, will focus on what avian influenza is, how poultry are affected, and what growers can do to minimize the risk of outbreaks. Avian influenza, known technically as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza or HPAI, is mostly fatal to poultry, and can rapidly spread within and between domestic poultry flocks and wild bird (especially waterfowl) populations. To date, HPAI has been detected in 47 states and affected more than 57 million birds.
USDA’s Defend the Flock education program offers free tools and resources to help everyone who works with or handles poultry follow best practices in biosecurity. Biosecurity refers to everything people do to keep diseases – and the viruses, bacteria, funguses, parasites, and other microorganisms that cause disease – away from birds, property, and people.
The Defend the Flock Resource Center brings together biosecurity information and free resources from USDA and other experts, including growers, veterinarians, state agencies, scientists, and industry professionals, including checklists, resource guides, videos, and other tools.
The “Navigating Avian Influenza: Your Questions Answered” webinar will take place on Tuesday, February 28 from 2:30-3:30 PM EST. Register for this FREE webinar at https://bit.ly/APHISWebinar_Feb2023.
As part of Bird Health Awareness Week, February 28-March 3, APHIS will release additional new Defend the Flock resources:
- New Flock Defender Youth Program resources, including an interactive game and educator handbook.
- New translations of Defend the Flock Biosecurity Checklists in Arabic and Hmong. Based on the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) principles, the 15 biosecurity planning checklists are also available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Tagalog.
- “Biosecurity Workbook,” a biosecurity planning workbook designed especially for new and experienced backyard poultry owners to help them protect and care for their birds throughout the year.
APHIS’ Defend the Flock campaign also shares tips and important information on social media, at Twitter and Facebook. The Defend the Flock e-Newsletter is published twice a year. Select “Defend the Flock e-Newsletter” under Veterinary Services at bit.ly/2UC7iLi to sign up.
Information shared from the APHIS stakeholder registry.