Our View: Extreme precautions required for avian flu

Avian flu has serious consequences. That’s why, wherever it is found, extreme measures must be taken to eradicate it before it can spread.

That’s why Foster Farms had to slaughter roughly 200,000 turkeys earlier this week.

The same was true in the Netherlands in 2014, where three flocks totaling another 200,000 birds were destroyed. And in Nigeria, where more than 12,000 birds were destroyed last year. More flocks in Korea, Israel, Turkey, Palestine and Germany were also killed. The list goes on, and the remedy is always the same.

The H5N8 virus is not harmful to humans; no one will become ill from eating turkey. But it is “highly pathogenic” to birds, meaning it kills them quickly. With more than 2 million turkeys in Stanislaus County and another 3 to 4 million in Merced and Tuolumne counties, such steps were necessary to protect the remaining birds. After all, turkeys accounted for $31 million in 2013 in Stanislaus County and roughly $68 million in Merced and Tuolumne counties, according to crop reports from the respective county agricultural commissioners.

Still, the thought of killing 200,000 birds as a precaution is startling. And costly. The value of these birds alone is at least $300,000, likely much more.

Poultry farms go to great lengths to keep their barns disease free, bordering on paranoia. Poultry houses are equipped with closed-air systems and all employees are required to put on “clean suits” before entering the poultry barns.

It’s hard to blame them. Because birds are social animals living in close confines, an outbreak of H5N8 can destroy most of the flock within days. But there are worse diseases out there, such as Newcastle, which rarely leaves any survivors once an enclosed flock is infected.

Unfortunately, germs are impossible to stop. Our area is in the heart of the Pacific Flyway, and hundreds of thousands of wild ducks and geese are either passing through or nesting in the area at this time every year. A few, invariably, carry various permutations of avian flu. Somehow, the disease finds its way into the barns.

The outbreak in Germany, which prides itself on sanitary turkey barns, was traced to a single wild duck.

Those who raise turkeys and chickens commercially watch for symptoms every day. Without such vigilance, the cost of an outbreak could be far higher than one flock – even one that’s 200,000 birds. Once spotted, commercial operators are required by law to report infections, then take the extreme measures so that the disease does not spread.

The commercial implications make it necessary. Other countries will refuse imports from nations where avian flu is present. China has already banned turkey imports from the U.S., which is bewildering considering the incidence of avian flu is far higher there than here. Tuesday, Canada put restrictions on bringing any raw chicken or turkey across its border from the U.S.

We wish it were not necessary to slaughter animals in such a wholesale manner. But considering that 300 million turkeys are raised and brought to market in the U.S. each year, it is a small percentage of the nation’s flock. If such drastic steps were not taken, the toll could be much higher.

This story was originally published January 27, 2015 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Our View: Extreme precautions required for avian flu."