By james art 
Annapolis, MD. – Bird Flu returns, sending shock waves through the poultry breeding of the Chesapeake Bay region and nourishes fears about wild birds as well as infections with “overflow” in humans.
The suspected foci were found in eight commercial poultry operations in the Bay catchment area of January 24 – all but one on the Delmava Peninsula. In any case, the findings arise from routine tests and the chickens were killed to prevent them from entering food.
The opening among wild birds is wider widespread to the regional level, painful and killing snow geese, goals from Canada and other waterfowl.
After the current outbreak of a highly pathogenic bird influenza, the inspection of the health and health of animal health in the United States, the virus in more than 1,300 poultry operations across the country began in 2022.
But the birds were not the only ones that got sick. The tension has moved to the dairy industry, appearing in nearly 1000 cows flocks in 17 states. So far, there are a total of 67 confirmed human cases throughout the country, with one death.
Despite the evidence of a crossover in the human population, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider the risk to human health as low.
The last outburst in the bay area seems to be bound by the arrival of birds migrating south for the winter along the Atlantic maximum, said Dr. Jennifer Tawn, Merland’s State Veterinary Medicine.
“It seemed that after the bigger part was going, everything followed a suit,” Troy said. Wild birds are suspected helping to spread the disease in poultry flocks and flocks of livestock.
The first discovered cases in the current middle Atlantic wave were in Delaware. Authorities report 850 dead wild birds, mainly snow geese, on Prime Hook Beach in the coastal district of Sussex on December 27.
Then came evidence, which suggest that the disease had moved to the trade agriculture sector. Pre -positive tests have announced on January 3 on an operation for meat of 125,000 poultry in Kent in Delaware, raised alarms for the chicken industry on the peninsula of $ 5 billion. The second case was reported in the county on January 9th.
The first case related to a commercial surgery for poultry in Maryland was publicly announced on January 10 – this time in Caroline County, also on the east coast. Since then, four more poultry farms have tested positively in the cities of Delmarva, one in the cities of Queen Ann, Caroline and Dorchester in Maryland and one in the ACCOMACK County, VA.
“This situation since early January is certainly new to chicken producers in Delmavar,” says James Fisher, a spokesman for the Delmavar Chickens Association, a trade group in the industry. “There was no month in which we had seven cases we were in. This is concerned. “
The first case of Pennyslvania, associated with domestic poultry in the latest hearth, was reported on January 27. The tests show that a flock of 50,000 birds on the farm of Lehigh district includes positive cases, according to the Ministry of Agriculture of Pennsylvania.
In addition to monitoring the disease in the farm and herds, the Health and Plants of the USDA also monitors the virus in wild birds and animals.
The USDA service has registered reports for 11,000 infected birds, some of each state, from 2022 to 2024. There are about 50 reports of dead water birds and other wild birds in Maryland, about 100 in Virginia and around 140 in Pennsylvania. The infected include bald eagles, falcons of Peregrine, vultures and crows.
The Federal Verification Service has also received a smaller number of reports on the death of bird flu at land mammals, including red foxes in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, South of State College, and Bobka near Binghamton, New York.
The virus is not considered a critical threat to the populations of wild birds or animals-although the number of viruses infected with wild birds seems to have increased lately, wild nature managers said.
The onset of harsh winter time in the region may exacerbate the effects of the disease, Josh Homak, a biologist at the Department of Natural Resources in Maryland, suggested.
The agency conducts an air survey every winter of migrating waterfowl. Officials have not completed the data analysis of the latest survey, Homyack said. If nothing else, he said he expects the number of waterfowl can be higher than the last few winters.
“Usually, in cold winters like this number, they are larger,” he said, explaining that low temperatures often push geese, ducks and swans to fly south to places such as the Delmavar and North Carolina Peninsula.
The discovery of seven dead snow geese in the County Dorchester and Warkster along the east coast of Maryland in early January, prompted the state to expand its efforts to respond to calls for dead wild animals at least back to September.
In one of the most profitable cases so far in the region, the metro zoo Richmond announced on January 20 that two cranes had tested positively and died. The cranes did not live in the aviary, which was open to the public, staff said.
The influenza has hit wild waterfowl especially in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Games Commission announced that on January 2, about 200 snow geese had been found dead in two places near Alontown.
Thousands of more dead snow geese were discovered in the same places shortly thereafter, according to Travis Lau, the Communication Director of Communication. The crews of the Game Commission continued to shoot about 450 other birds that showed signs of the disease. All the dead and sick birds were removed, Lau noted.
“We are not sure how effective this type of removal may be,” he added, but the employees decided to try it in the hope of reducing the virus in what he described as “two tumbling spots we know about.”
Sick and dead birds and animals have appeared in a much smaller number elsewhere in Pennsylvania. The discovery of several dead geese from Canada in a pond at Gethisburg College prompted the school to close the public area.
Wildlife officials say that the hunting of wild birds is still safe, although they warn not to take sick birds or deal with the dead. Even when they harvest seemingly healthy birds, authorities recommend using disposable gloves when handling them or diligent washing or disinfection of the hands afterwards. They also offer to keep clothes, boots and tools used to clean the game away from any poultry or poultry.
Water birds collected for consumption should be cooked up to at least 165 degrees to kill any viruses or bacteria. Authorities also say that it is safe for homeowners to continue to fill bird feeders in the winter, as birds with songs are thought to be at low risk of obtaining or spreading the virus.
While the flu warnings have also expanded to milk cattle, authorities maintain that pasteurized milk remains safe for consumption.