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Massachusetts environmental and health officials are warning South Coast poultry farmers and residents about an outbreak of bird flu. It is the suspected cause of wild bird deaths in Plymouth, Lakeville and Westport.
State leaders believe the disease has killed hundreds to thousands of wild birds across the state this winter, along with a backyard flock of 30 chickens in Plymouth County.
These deaths have been primarily located in the Boston area and Southeastern Massachusetts. Current evidence suggests Massachusetts is experiencing the largest outbreak in wild birds it has seen from the current highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, which arrived in 2022.
City of New Bedford Public Information Officer Jonathan Darling said no suspected bird flu cases have been reported in wild or domestic birds thus far in New Bedford. Though current evidence suggests the virus is likely present in places where there has not been confirmed positive, state officials say.
Bird flu can also infect cows, humans, and domestic and wild animals, though these cases are rare.
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources staff have not detected bird flu in a commercial poultry flock in the state. They have not detected bird flu on any Massachusetts dairy farms. There have been no confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu in Massachusetts.
“We feel like awareness is the right approach, as opposed to alarm,” said Massachusetts State Epidemiologist Catherine Brown.
State officials say people should not handle birds or other animals that are dead or appear sick. Cats, dogs and other pets should always be leashed and away from wildlife. People should report observations of sick or deceased birds to MassWildlife, if five or more birds are found at a single location, state officials say.
Poultry owners should practice biosecurity measures to keep their birds away from wild birds. Farmers should report sick or dead poultry or other domestic birds by calling MDAR’s Division of Animal Health.
Local farmers prepare for virus
Susan Murray, co-owner of Flying Carrot Farm in Dartmouth, is not surprised to see a bird flu outbreak this year. Local farmers have been dealing with the issue for years now. Most have developed and are implementing biosecurity plans.
Still, Murray said the ongoing outbreak is “scarier” for local poultry operations than past outbreaks, especially the unprecedented wild bird deaths.
Murray raises 1,500 laying hens year-round, 1,000 meat birds seasonally, and a small number of ducks. While the hens have access to indoor space, they are free-range and can access the outdoors during winter days. That presents risk.
If the disease somehow gets on Murray’s farm, government authorities will have to depopulate her flock, and restrict her from raising poultry for roughly six months.
The federal government will compensate farmers for the birds that are depopulated at a preset rate. Yet Murray says that compensation doesn’t account for the future earnings loss from egg-laying hens, nor this waiting period. Nor does the federal reimbursement rate cover the full cost of a new bird here.
So Murray’s team has instituted high-level biosecurity measures to keep their flocks safe.
No visitors can access the production flock, as of 2022. They will not allow workers to take work boots off the farm. Murray and her team keep their duck and chicken flocks separate, and they cannot wear the same clothes and shoes between the chicken pen and the duck flock.
When the feed truck comes, it arrives on a separate part of the farm, away from the poultry flocks. If Murray hears of a more localized case in our town or nearby, she may make their workers step through a Virkon disinfectant foot bath before entering the chicken area.
“We’re basically creating an imaginary wall around our chicken flock, so that we’re not the ones bringing in potential contamination,” she said.
Vincent Frary, the owner of Copicut Farms in Dartmouth, said the current bird flu outbreak is a “huge concern” for his business. He raises 1,800 laying hens year-round, 15,000 meat birds seasonally, and 600 to 800 turkeys for holiday sales.
Right now, Frary has a couple of coops of laying hens on the farm. All he and his team can do is keep their birds inside as much as possible, and keep wild birds out.
Meat chickens make up roughly 60% of revenue on Frary’s farm. So the “scariest scenario” for him would be if they detected bird flu on the farm in the spring. That would require him to depopulate all of his birds, and keep him from raising more for close to the entire season.
Frary said his team has restricted public access to their poultry amid the ongoing outbreak. They have set up disinfectant foot baths for when people enter and exit the coops.
Cases should go down in a few months, as warmer, dryer weather slows spread of the virus, Frary said. So right now, protecting his flock is “a waiting game.” As the spring comes, Frary and his team will decide when to let their animals back out into the fields.
What is bird flu?
Avian influenza, or “bird flu,” is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild birds.
It spreads through direct bird-to-bird contact, and via contaminated surfaces or materials, such as manure, farming equipment, and chicken shoes. Infected birds also shed virus through fecal matter, which can end up in ponds, streams and wetlands.
The disease has an incubation period of a few days to a couple of weeks. Symptoms in chickens include lack of energy and appetite, difficulty breathing, stumbling or falling, and sneezing. It can also present as sudden death without any prior symptoms of illness.
Highly pathogenic strains of bird flu, including the current H5N1 strain, are deadly to domestic poultry and can wipe out entire flocks within a matter of days.
There is no treatment for bird flu. The only way to stop the disease is to kill all affected and exposed poultry.
The H5N1 strain arrived in North America via wild birds in late 2021. Across the country, more than 138 million domestic birds have been infected by the virus since 2022.
The disease is spread by wild waterfowl during migration season in the fall and spring, as they intermingle with resident wild birds or domestic birds. The disease can survive in the environment for months in cold, damp weather.
Massachusetts has experienced periodic outbreaks since 2022, though limited in scale, and to backyard flocks. The reasons for the large outbreak in wild birds this year are unknown, though state officials say it may have to do with cool, damp winter conditions this year, and wild birds congregating on frozen waters.
Bird flu viruses rarely infect humans. 67 people have tested positive for this current strain of bird flu nationwide in the past three years. Most cases have been mild, although there has been one fatality.
People are most commonly infected with bird flu if they have direct contact with infected animals or the immediate environment where those infected animals are living.
Buying local
Bird flu isn’t just posing problems for local poultry farmers. Outbreaks in major production regions — along with market factors like cost inflation — are driving up egg prices at grocery stores nationwide.
Murray, who is also executive director of the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership, said that this bird flu outbreak should remind people of the importance of local food systems here in Massachusetts. The price of local eggs has stayed consistent through this outbreak, as the price of store-bought eggs has steadily climbed.
Yet inflation has also driven consumers away from locally-sourced food, as they believe it to be more expensive. Meanwhile, New England farmers have been dealing with high input, labor, and living costs, Murray said.
If these farmers don’t get more support, she said, local food systems will fail. Then, they won’t be able to support food security in local communities when shocks to the national food system occur.
“You should be supporting your local farms at this time because you know your food is safe, you know where it’s coming from, and your farmers need it right now,” Murray said.
Email environmental reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@newbedfordlight.org.
