Spread of avian flu in North Bay could be disastrous for future of poultry farmers
The tragic outbreak of bird flu in Sonoma County has forced several poultry providers to euthanize hundreds of thousands of chickens and ducks. But the disease hasn't stopped there.
It has now been found in Marin County, where another farm has had to destroy its entire flock.
Last month, Sonoma County declared an agricultural disaster when two poultry farms had to kill their entire flocks to try to keep the deadly pathogen from spreading. It's officially called "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza," and it's been a disaster for the poultry industry.
UC Davis Professor Dr. Maurice Pitesky said there are very few tools to control it.
"We can't vaccinate because of economic and political reasons," he said. "So, the only method of control we really have are quarantine, bio-security and de-population."
That "de-population" has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of millions of birds nationwide, with the highest level of infection right here in California. And on Dec. 28, there was another discovery, an egg farm in Marin.
They had to euthanize 151,000 chickens. The county's Agriculture Commissioner, Stefen Parnay, won't identify the location, but said there is little anyone could do about it.
"At this point, the goal is to not have it spread more than the one site it's at," he said. "So, that's the challenge."
It's a challenge because the infections are happening despite rigorous bio-security measures to try to keep any foreign sources out of the farms.
Here's how quickly the disease is spreading: The first detection of the current strain of avian flu in the United States was in February of 2022. By the end of last month, 16 commercial flocks have had to be euthanized in just the state of California alone.
"It's incredibly unnerving, and our producers are doing everything they possibly can," said Parnay. "And, again, sometimes you do everything right and you still become a casualty of this disease."
That's because the disease seems to be spreading from migratory birds, which can carry the virus without it harming them. The slightest dropping from an infected bird that finds its way into the poultry population can be disastrous. It can even be carried on dust in the wind.
Dr. Pitesky said he believes the only realistic way to limit the spread is to begin locating poultry farms in areas where there aren't a lot of migratory birds passing through.
"The same way you make daily predictions about weather, we can make daily predictions about the presence or absence and abundance of waterfowl next to these farms," said Dr. Pitesky. "So farmers can be prepared to understand where the risk geographically is."
But it may make it very hard for an area like the North Bay to continue as a poultry production center.
"This is, at some level, an existential issue for the commercial poultry industry," said Dr. Pitesky. "It's going to take some time for the industry to adapt to this new reality. But unfortunately, I think, we're in kind of a new world in the United States with respect to the risk."
The economics may be the determining factor. The price of eggs nationally has already more than doubled since the outbreak began. And at a certain point, farmers simply won't be able to continue operating in a place where a bird flying overhead can be enough to put them out of business.