An avian influenza virus outbreak can cause millions of dollars
in economic damage. But officials hope to keep this virus out of
Georgia and away from its multibillion dollar poultry industry
before it does.

The virus has caused the eradication of about 3 million chickens
in Virginia and cost the poultry industry there millions of
dollars in damage. The virus is also in North Carolina, said Dan
Cunningham of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences.

“It’s a bad and very contagious disease that is easily spread
among poultry,” said Cunningham, Extension Service coordinator
for the CAES poultry science department. “We’re very concerned in
keeping it out of Georgia.”

Deadly Quickly

The virus detected in Virginia and North Carolina a month ago is
only mildly pathogenic, he said. With this form of the virus, a
chicken has respiratory problems, not unlike humans with the flu.
It also affects the growth of the chicken, but it isn’t deadly in
most cases.

However, this mild version has been known to turn very quickly
into the highly pathogenic and deadly form of avian influenza
virus. “When this happens,” Cunningham said, “the mortality rate
goes much higher, and it becomes much more contagious.”

Any such virus would have a devastating effect on Georgia’s $10
billion poultry industry, he said.

No Cure

There is no cure for the virus. The only way to contain it is to
eradicate the infected birds. This is what is happening in
Virginia and North Carolina right now. And they’re beginning to
get a handle on the spread of the virus through these states, he
said.

Chickens to be processed for commercial sale are raised in flocks
in houses on growers’ farms. One chicken house will get four to
six flocks of birds in one year.

Cunningham said it’s common for chicken flocks to cross state
lines, especially in the Southeast.

Stop It?

This prompted the Georgia Department of Agriculture to put the
brakes on any birds coming from Virginia or North Carolina into
Georgia. Any chickens coming into Georgia from any other state
now have to be certified that they come from an avian
influenza-clean flock.

There has never been an outbreak of this virus in Georgia.
Recently, though, birds in Georgia have been traced back to a
flock that originated from an infected area in North Carolina.

Certain wild birds can also carry the virus.

“But we do not have the virus in Georgia right now,” Cunningham
said.

Scientists are exploring ways to fight this virus. But there is
no vaccine. The best way to fight the virus, Cunningham said, is
to not get it.