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Avian Influenza and Arkansas Poultry

 

The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)  H5N1 subtype was detected in Arkansas in December 2024.

Six backyard/hobby flocks and one commercial poultry flock have tested positive for HPAI - all since Dec. 8, 2024. The commercial flock was in Clay County. The affected backyard/hobby flocks are as follows: 1 flock in Lafayette County, 2 in Craighead County, 1 in Jackson County, 1 in Pope County, and 1 in Sharp County.  There has also been confirmation of H5N1 HPAI in a peregrine falcon in Lonoke County, Arkansas.

For the most accurate report of confirmed cases, visit the USDA website.

Nationally, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has been a problem for poultry since Feb. 8, 2022. The disease has affected more than 129 million birds. HPAI has now been detected in all 50 states with a total of 1,365 flocks positive. There have been 617 commercial poultry flocks and 748 backyard/hobby flocks affected as of Dec. 30, 2024. 

The potential losses and costs associated with Avian Influenza outbreaks make it extremely important for all poultry flock owners to protect their flocks. One of the best tools to use against Avian Influenza and other diseases is following Biosecurity Practices and Procedures that help prevent or lessen the introduction of a disease organism into a flock.

 

Note: The video above is currently being updated to reflect HPAI's presence in Arkansas.

How do I keep my birds safe from avian flu?

Use these best practices:

  1. Keep your birds in covered pens to prevent exposure to wild or migratory birds.

  2. Repair any holes or tears in the pen as soon as detected to prevent wild birds or rodents from entering.

  3. Practice good vermin control. Mice and rats can carry diseases that can infect your birds. They can also attract snakes. Fly, buffalo gnat, and mosquito control are also important since these insects can carry and spread diseases. Wild birds should be excluded from your poultry pens as well. Secure poultry pens are necessary to exclude other wildlife, which may be predators of your poultry or could bring in diseases.  Although not vermin, pets should also be kept out of the poultry pens.

  4. Restrict access to any source of water that may have been contaminated by wild birds.

  5. If you visit an area where there are waterfowl (such as ponds, lakes, and hunting) or areas with poultry,  change your clothes and shoes and wash your hands before checking on your own birds.

  6. Clean and disinfect. Keep poultry facilities clean and free of weeds, debris, spilled feed etc. In addition, clean areas around your poultry pens and facilities.

  7. Quarantine any new birds for a minimum of 30 days (6 weeks is better). This should also be done after your own bird returns from a poultry exhibit. Admittedly, poultry exhibitors are trying to place at a show and a sick bird does not win. Unfortunately, it is possible that a bird could still be incubating a disease and some diseases cause few signs unless a bird becomes stressed.

  8. Keep unnecessary visitors away. Visitors could accidentally contaminate your poultry. 

  9. Keep a logbook or sign-in sheet for all necessary visitors coming onto your property. If they have been in contact with other birds, DO NOT let them come in contact with your flock.

  10. Have all necessary visitors clean their shoes/boots and disinfect before visiting your poultry flock. Keeping a pair of boots for visitors to wear and a pair for you wear just around your birds are even better.

  11. Keep your poultry pens and facilities locked to prevent access.

  12. Do not borrow equipment (crates, nest boxes, cages, etc) since they could be contaminated with feces contain disease organisms. If that is not possible, thoroughly clean and disinfect the equipment before taking it onto your premise and before and after usage. Please be advised that the next step to control disease may involve a quarantine of your premise.

For questions on poultry diseases, care, and husbandry contact your County Extension office or contact the numbers listed below:

  • Terry Conger, DVM, Poultry Health /Epidemiologist: Terry.H.Conger@aphis.usda.gov , 501-224-9515
  • John G. Nilz, DVM, Arkansas State Veterinarian, john.nilz@agriculture.arkansas.gov, 501-297-2250
  • Arkansas Dept of Agriculture Livestock and Poultry Division, 501-225-1598
  • Dustan Clark, DVM, Arkansas Extension Poultry Veterinarian, UA System Division of Agriculture, fdclark@uark.edu, 479-957-4245

What is avian influenza?

Avian Influenza, commonly known as “bird flu" or "AI," is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A Influenza viruses. The disease is carried by many wild bird species including migratory waterfowl like ducks and geese, which show few if any clinical signs of the disease. Influenza in birds is very contagious and can cause severe illness and death in domestic species such as chickens and turkeys.

How infectious is it?

The virus is also classified by pathogenicity -- the ability to cause disease in domestic chickens. There are two types of pathogenicity: low and high. Low pathogenic viruses usually do not cause illness whereas highly pathogenic viruses spread rapidly and cause high mortality in poultry. The types of Influenza viruses of greatest concern are the highly pathogenic and any H5 and H7 virus, since they have the ability to change from low pathogenic to high pathogenic.

What are the symptoms of avian influenza in poultry?

Avian Influenza has a variable incubation period in birds depending on the virus dose, poultry species infected, route of exposure, and several other factors. The symptoms exhibited by an infected bird also vary and depend on the pathogenicity of the virus.

Some of the possible symptoms are:

  • depression
  • diarrhea
  • dehydration
  • appetite loss
  • weight loss
  • huddling
  • drop in egg production
  • respiratory symptoms such as cough, sneeze, and sinusitis

Lesions that could be observed include:

  • a bloody nasal discharge
  • facial swelling
  • blue discoloration of the face
  • under-the-skin hemorrhaging
  • tracheal inflammation
  • nasal inflammation
  • hemorrhages on the shanks and in the proventriculus, which is part of the bird’s digestive system

There is no acceptable or practical treatment for poultry infected with high pathogenic avian influenza.

Can highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) affect humans?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  reported Jan. 6, 2025, that a Louisiana resident who had been hospitalized with severe avian influenza A(H5N1) illness ("H5N1 bird flu") died. This is the first person in the United States who has died as a result of an H5 infection. While tragic, a death from H5N1 bird flu in the United States is not unexpected because of the known potential for infection with these viruses to cause severe illness and death. As of Jan. 6, 2025, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in the United States since 2024 and 67 since 2022. Outside the United States, more than 950 cases of H5N1 bird flu have been reported to the World Health Organization; about half of those have resulted in death.

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