Avian Influenza

WV NRCS Employees Participate in Avian Flu Emergency

Test results for samples collected from turkeys at a farm in West Virginia indicated exposure to H5N2, a low pathogenic strain of avian influenza (LPAI) virus. The samples were collected by an industry group as part of routine, pre-slaughter surveillance. The turkeys showed no signs of illness.

LPAI viruses pose no risk to human health. But to eliminate the threat of the virus mutating into a more dangerous high-pathogen strain, the turkeys were destroyed. A water-based foam method of mass depopulation was used on the 25,000 forty pound turkeys. The most desirable disposal method was burial on the farm. West Virginia Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) was called upon to recommend burial sites to dispose of a million pounds of carcasses.

Bird testing took place on Friday, March 30, 2007. Pat Bowen (Assistant State Conservationist-Field Operations) was informed of the agricultural emergency Saturday evening around 21:00. He consulted with Doris Brackenrich (District Conservationist for Pendleton County) and Jason Teets (Resource Soil Scientist) by phone to identify soil types appropriate for burial of the birds. Online soil reference tools, the Web Soil Survey (http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/) and Soil Data Mart (http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov/) were used to map potential sites.

Doris Brackenrich’s day started early Sunday morning. Before 08:00 she traveled to the site with the farm’s EQIP folder, soil maps, soil probe, and soil survey. Doris was to determine the best sites for burial and/or composting and making sure biosecurity measures were followed. West Virginia Department of Agriculture personnel provided coveralls and plastic boots, erected signs, and established a decontamination station.

Several possible burial sites were visited but none were suitable. Composting was determined to be the preferred disposal alternative after extensive interagency discussion. Doris was asked to proceed with the burial pit as a backup plan. She mobilized equipment onto the site, prepared a test hole to determine depth, drainage characteristics, etc. in case burial was necessary.

Two roofed litter sheds at the poultry farm were designated as the primary composting sites. Both were located more than 200 feet from the river and well out of the 100-year floodplain. Due to the quantity of carcasses, a separate area was designated for additional windrow composting. The windrow was covered to prevent any additional moisture from entering. Finely shredded wood mulch from a local plant was transported in to be added to the compost as an added carbon source. The mulch also absorbed some of the leachate produced in the composting process to help prevent any runoff.

Sunday afternoon, Doris helped unload the first delivery of mulch. Shredded bark and available poultry litter was mixed to use for the base layer in the two litter sheds, under the guidance of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA-DEQ). The mulch was placed as close as possible to the entrance of the litter sheds. During the afternoon, Doris also helped the landowner develop the site by moving cattle and equipment, preparing the houses (shutting down feed and water supplies to the turkeys), and providing moral support. By mid morning on Monday the mulch unloading area was stabilized and the litter sheds ready for carcasses.

	From left to right: terrace for additional windrow composting, litter sheds with mulch piles, and poultry houses.
	Two grades of mulch, fine and coarse shredded bark, were delivered to the site.
	The front litter shed was built to NRCS specifications using EQIP funding. The shed contains composted turkeys.

On Monday, Jared Beard (Area Resource Soil Scientist) visited a pit that was dug over the weekend to evaluate the potential for its use as a contingency plan burial site. Jared confirmed the previous assessment of the pit as being unsuitable for burial. The soil was mapped as BnD – Berks-Weikert channery silt loams, 15 to 25 percent slopes. This soil was 15 inches thick overlying highly fractured shale bedrock to a depth of 38 inches. The bedrock became harder and less fractured to a depth of 11 feet. Ground water was seeping through the bedrock as high as 25 inches (gray and red redoximorphic features were present at this depth between the fractures).

While at the poultry site, Jared suggested using straw bale dikes to slow runoff water from the poultry houses so it would have time to infiltrate into the soil. This soil was mapped ErB – Ernest silt loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes and ErC – Ernest silt loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes. Runoff potential was high due to the slope, compaction of the soil surface, and increased moisture level due to heavy rain.

West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture, Gus R. Douglass temporarily ordered a halt to any movement of poultry litter in counties in the state’s eastern panhandle. Farmers in Hardy, Hampshire, Mineral, Grant, and parts of Pendleton Counties may resume poultry house cleanouts, litter movement and land application of litter. Negative test results of birds within a six-mile radius of the affected farm indicated the risk posed by regular litter management activities is minimal.

Cuba, Japan, Russia, and Taiwan have declared poultry from West Virginia temporarily ineligible for importation following the discovery of avian flu based on international guidelines. Timeframes for resuming poultry imports will depend on each country's standards.

Turkeys raised in West Virginia during 2006 totaled 3.6 million birds, up 33 percent from 2005. Because the affected poultry producer participates in the expanded National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), USDA provided 100 percent indemnity for all specified costs associated with depopulating this flock.

H5N2 was last detected in West Virginia in 2002. That time, about 14,000 chickens on a Hardy County farm were destroyed. Historically, there have been three highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in poultry in this country—in 1924, 1983, and 2004. No significant human illness resulted from these outbreaks. The 1924 H7 HPAI outbreak was detected in and contained to East Coast live bird markets. The 1983-84 H5N2 HPAI bird outbreaks resulted in the destruction of approximately 17 million chickens, turkeys, and guinea fowl in the northeastern United States to contain and eradicate the disease. In 2004, USDA confirmed an H5N2 HPAI outbreak in chickens in the southern United States. The disease was quickly eradicated thanks to close coordination and cooperation between USDA, state, local, and industry leaders. Because of the quick response, the disease was limited to one flock.

For more information on Avian Influenza go to:

USDA Spotlight: Avian Influenza
Get the facts about the avian influenza virus http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?navid=AVIAN_INFLUENZA

Questions and Answers: Avian Influenza
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2005/10/0458.xml&navid=

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) works to keep HPAI from becoming established in the U.S. poultry population.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/avian_influenza/avian_influenza.shtml

One-stop access to U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information. Managed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

< Back to May News and Views