Since then the virus has spread among poultry flocks in a number of south-east Asian countries. It has also spread westwards into eastern Turkey and some European countries along the migration paths of wild birds, particularly waterfowl. Transmission from birds to humans has occurred. More than 140 people have become sick and of those approximately half have died.
Below is protected procedural to prevent from avian desease with etablish your own cleaning and disinfection facilities.
- Follow these procedures on your farm:
- Lock poultry houses, post signs, and secure premise entry gates.
- Stop all service and delivery personnel and visitors at entry gates.
- Restrict visitors. Permit only essential personnel on your farm and then control or monitor their movements. A sign in log should be routinely completed by all visitors.
- Allow only clean and disinfected live-haul trucks and crates on your premises.
- Make sure the cars, farm vehicles and equipment have been cleaned and disinfected before allowing them on your farm
- Clean and disinfect cars, farm vehicles and equipment before they leave your farm
- If possible, designate a feed truck to be used on the infected farm only
- Feed should be transferred from the "clean" truck to the farm truck in an up-wind or off-site area. The driver of the farm truck should stay in his truck while the feed is transferred.
- Provide sanitized disposable outerwear, headgear and rubber boots for essential, authorized people who visit your farm
- Use only service crews (feed delivery, bird handling, egg pick-up, and other operations) who follow strict sanitary standards.
- Wash and disinfect poultry equipment, cages, egg flats, and all other items that can be taken off your farm.
- Remember that children and pets that play and work on your farm may have been on other farms. Keep them away from poultry houses.
- Launder clothing and disinfect footwear.
- If possible, disposal or slaughter of infected flocks should be performed at the end of the week, preferably on a Friday during the last shift.
- Reinforce biosecurity training for employees
- Follow these procedures after being with birds that look sick:
- Disinfect footwear worn on the visit.
- Remove clothing and outerwear and put them directly in the washing machine.
- Launder clothes worn on visit.
- Wash eye wear with soap and water or use alcohol wipes.
- Bathe, wash hair, cough, spit, and blow nose.
- Put on freshly laundered clothes and clean footwear.
- Wait at least 24 hours before visiting any poultry houses.
- Notify task force personnel about those sick birds.
- Keep birds isolated – lock building where they are housed.
- When dead birds are going to be monitored by state or federal authorities, dead birds should be placed in a plastic bag and removed from the house. That bag containing dead birds, once outside of the poultry house, is placed in another clean plastic bag. The double-bagged birds are taken to the edge of the property where a plastic garbage can with lid has been placed. The outside of the second bag is sprayed with a disinfectant and then placed in the plastic garbage can for pick up.
- Actions to be taken by local goverment during incident from avian disease
- Call farm owners before going to visit them
- Arrive at agreed upon time in the location where instructed
- Arrive at location freshly showered in recently laundered clothing and clean shoes
- Before leaving vehicle or area adjacent to the vehicle, don disposable head cover, coverall and boots
- Do not go into poultry buildings unless accompanied by farm owner or representative
- Complete surveillance, collect samples, and investigational epidemiology
- Return to vehicle where you will remove disposable head wear, coveralls, and boots. Place them in a pile by your vehicle for the farmer to dispose of.
- Before getting into vehicle, wash hands with disinfectant, clean glasses with alcohol wipes.
- As you enter car, spray shoes with disinfectant. Place only disinfected shoes in vehicle
- Visit only 1 farm per day in an infected area.
- Up to 3 farms may be visited per day in the surveillance area as long as no illness is evident.
- When collecting dead animals from roadside garbage cans, put on disposable covering (see above) before leaving vehicle.
- Leave car, go to garbage can.
- Remove clean garbage bag from trunk and put double bagged birds into this bag.
- Put triple-bagged dead birds in car trunk
- Remove disposable covering and either throw onto property or put in a plastic bag. Close bag
- Follow disinfection of hands and shoes as described above.
DELIVERY TRUCK DRIVERS: HELP PREVENT CONTAGIOUS POULTRY DISEASES
- Here are some things truck drivers must do to prevent disease spread:
- Treat every poultry facility where a delivery is made as a potentially infected farm, including premises with fancy fowl, pheasants, etc. You can be exposed to disease agents by direct contact of your truck, clothing, and footwear with infected poultry or manure. Thus, you can carry poultry infections with you from farm to farm during deliveries and never know it
- Delivery guidelines:
- Wear plastic disposable boots over regular footwear, and put them on before getting out of your truck cab at poultry facilities. Use disposable outerwear (coveralls) and headgear if provided.
- Do not enter poultry houses and have contact with poultry.
- Avoid dust and fecal contamination (manure/litter) of clothing and footwear. (Have an extra set of clean outer garments for use in case of contamination).
- Clean up and properly dispose of all spilled feed.
- Use new egg cases and filler flats or make sure that used cases and flats have been fumigated and sanitized.
- Disinfect trucks with an approved disinfectant after each delivery. Take particular care on:
- Tires
- Undercarriage
- Walkways
- Running boards, pedals, and cab floors
- Before leaving farm:
- Check truck cabs for flies or other insects, they can carry avian pathogens. If needed, spray cab with fly repellent to make sure that no insects are moved from one farm to another.
- Take off disposable boots, outerwear, etc.
- Wash hands
- Make delivery to infected or suspicious flocks the end of the day.
PROCEDURE FOR HANDLING SUSPECT FARM PREMISES BY FLOCK SUPERVISOR
- SUPERVISOR IMMEDIATELY GIVES THIS FLOCK TOP PRIORITY
- Have emergency kit in car.
- Park vehicle well away from poultry house, preferably in a well-graveled or grassed area.
- Put on all wearing apparel (clean), disinfect boots and gloves immediately on arrival.
- If an EPD is suspected by the supervisor, collect specimen for diagnosis and use recommended procedures:
- Select live symptomatic and fresh dead birds. To prevent tearing the bag, cut off beak and feet of dead birds at hock prior to putting these birds in the plastic bag and sealing it. Suspect birds (dead or alive) should be handled in such a manner as to minimize contamination from fecal matter or any other body exudates or feathers.
- Tie off bag.
- Disinfect bag and place in second plastic bag.
- Disinfect second bag.
- Dispose of boots, coveralls and hats or put non-disposable boots, gloves, coat, and hat in disinfectant and handle routinely. Disinfect eye wear.
- Be careful to avoid contamination of vehicle.
- Alert appropriate diagnostic laboratory and await instructions.
- Launder lab coats.
- Avoid contact with poultry or poultry industry personnel until there is complete decontamination of individual and car.
- Run car through car wash and spray inside with disinfectant prior to visiting another farm
- If for any reason other assistance is needed, radio, or telephone your company office.
- Implement company quarantine.
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REQUIREMENTS OF CONTROL AND RESTRICTED MOVEMENT BY COMPANY
- Eliminate all service and other visits to that farm, including supervisor, repair, and maintenance personnel.
- Fully inform grower of the problem and danger involved.
- Specifically restrict movement of grower and family individuals and employees.
- Suspend feed deliveries until a specific program is outlined by the State Veterinarian's Office.
- Birds will be moved according to procedures outlined by State Veterinarian's Office, including dead bird disposal.
- State Veterinarian's Office will outline procedures for house(s) after removal of birds.
- Withhold placements until suspect disease is diagnosed.
- Post quarantine signs at entrance to farm and on poultry house doors.
- Procedure for feed deliveries, assisted by flock supervisor:
- Make delivery the last stop for unloading mixed loads.
- Driver must not enter poultry house.
- Driver must wear plastic boots.
- Truck must be run through truck wash before delivering feed to another farm.
- Spray disinfectant inside the truck cab.
- Keep truck doors and windows closed during unloading operation to keep flies and other insects out. Spray household aerosol insecticide in cab before leaving farm.
- Grower and family restrictions:
- Limit flock management to specific individuals.
- Fully inform these individuals on procedures for clothing, disinfection, dead bird disposal, and limitations on their off-farm visiting. No other farm can be visited and should not come in contact with other growers.
- Other family members working away from the farm must not enter poultry house.
- Family members who work off the farm must not have contact with any other poultry or pet birds.
