FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2002
Contact: Mark Anthony, ODA Communications, 614-752-9817
The highly contagious animal
disease avian influenza (AI), which is generally harmless to humans but can
quickly devastate a poultry farm, is caused by a virus that is easily spread to
birds from other birds and from crates, equipment, trucks, and even the shoes of
people exposed to the disease. In Ohio a flock infected with the virus would be
quarantined immediately and would likely be ordered destroyed to contain the
disease. To minimize the possibility of contracting AI on their farms, Ohio
Agriculture Director Fred Dailey recommends producers implement the following
precautions:
·
Look for unusual signs of illness such as “snicking” (sneezing) or at
least a 1 percent decrease in egg production or increase in mortality. Immediately
report signs of infection to your veterinarian or to the Ohio Department of
Agriculture by calling, toll-free, 800-300-9755. To submit samples for
testing, contact the department’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at
614-728-6220.
·
Avoid traveling to Virginia, West Virginia, or North Carolina, states
where AI has been detected. If you absolutely must go, be sure to wash and
disinfect vehicles and launder clothing before returning home.
·
Persons can carry the virus in their respiratory tracts. If you know you
have been in a poultry house in an outbreak area or otherwise exposed to the
virus, do not enter another poultry house for three to five days.
·
Keep unauthorized visitors out of poultry houses, a good practice whether
there is a disease threat or not. Authorized persons must wear protective
clothing and shoes before entering a house.
·
If persons must enter poultry houses -- such as industry or utility
service people, regulatory inspectors, feed trucks, or mortality collectors --
keep a record of who they are, their telephone numbers, where they last visited,
and where they’re going next.
·
Wear poultry house shoes and clothing only in poultry houses and nowhere
else. Change clothes before going to another multi-house complex on the same
farm.
·
Avoid contact with wild waterfowl – they may be carriers of AI viruses.
Keep waterfowl away from poultry houses and do not dress waterfowl anywhere on a
poultry farm.
·
Because they present an increased risk of AI exposure, avoid contact with
backyard flocks of chickens, ducks, geese, and other birds. Avoid contact also
with live-bird markets, swap meets, and poultry exhibitions, or wait three to
five days to re-enter your poultry houses.
·
Do not borrow or loan farm vehicles or equipment without cleaning and
disinfection before and after use.
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