More than a dozen major commercial poultry production facilities all across Indiana have been hit with Bird Flu since the beginning of the year. Not only are State Health Officials trying to battle the virus, but they’re also trying to battle the mountain of misinformation that’s being spread on social media.
“That’s the challenge that we are up against. For the poultry producers across our state, this is a very true reality,” says Dr. Kyle Shipman, State Veterinarian with the Indiana State Board of Animal Health.
He explains the reasons behind the current protocol for depopulating entire flocks of birds whenever there’s a positive test for the virus.
“Ultimately that’s two-fold—to prevent disease spread, as well as to ensure that the animals aren’t suffering from this virus,” says Shipman. “This virus kills these birds rapidly, and it’s not a good death. We want to work with the producers in these very trying times to make sure that we can decrease the amount of virus that is being produced by removing flocks off of the landscape that have been detected with this virus.”
The Trump administration is reportedly looking to shift the current protocol of depopulating entire flocks and instead use a combination of vaccines, medication, and biosecurity to contain the spread of the virus.
Regarding reports of drone sightings over poultry farms that have been hit with the virus, Shipman says those drones are likely independent operators who may not otherwise have permission to record the facility. He says it has also been unfounded that those same drone operators are swooping into infected sites in order to obtain the virus and intentionally spread it to other facilities.
“I do think we likely had an increased interest in those cases that were in east central Indiana and we had folks that wanted to get a first-hand look via drone. I do encourage folks to recognize that this is an incredibly tough time for those poultry producers that are impacted. Please give them that space when possible so that they can focus on the response efforts to get their farms back into business in a timely manner,” he says.
Most of all, Shipman stresses that eggs, poultry products, and pasteurized milk are all still safe for you and your family to eat.
“Pasteurization is effective at inactivating this virus,” he says. “Similarly, if the raw milk was to have influenza virus in it, it can pose a risk to our pets—specifically cats, but both dogs and cats, so we’re just encouraging folks to refrain from feeding raw milk to their pets even now because it can pose a safety risk to their animals.”
CLICK BELOW for Hoosier Ag Today’s radio news report.
CLICK BELOW to hear Hoosier Ag Today’s full conversation with Dr. Kyle Shipman, as he talks further about the misinformation that has been spread on social media regarding the recent Bird Flu outbreak.
