House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee
Testimony re: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
State Veterinarian Dr. Tony Forshey
June 16, 2015
Chairman Hill, Ranking Member Patterson, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me today
to share some information about the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the United
States and the efforts Ohio is making to prevent an outbreak within our borders.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza —also called the avian flu – is an extremely contagious virus that
primarily affects domestic poultry and is believed to be spread by wild, migrating waterfowl. The United
States Department of Agriculture first confirmed the presence of the virus in the U.S. beginning in late
2014. Since that time about 49 million birds at more than 230 locations have been affected. This is the
first large-scale outbreak of high path avian influenza since 1988 and has already affected more than
twice as many birds as the last outbreak.
Ohio has no confirmed cases and poultry and eggs remain safe to eat. The Department of Agriculture is
working to help educate poultry producers about the importance of practicing good biosecurity,
practices that keep diseases from spreading on farms, and is implementing policies meant to reduce the
risk of inadvertently causing an outbreak. The CDC considers the risk to humans from these viruses to
be low, as there has not been a reported case of infection, but the virus is highly fatal for domestic
poultry. For this reason, we are focusing our efforts on preventing and controlling the spread of the
disease and preparing to respond quickly in the event of an outbreak.
The most notable step to date the department has taken was to issue a proclamation canceling all live
bird exhibitions for the remainder of this year. The ban includes county and independent fairs, the Ohio
State Fair, and all other gatherings of birds for show or for sale, including auctions and swap meets. One
of the ways avian influenza spreads is by direct contact with contaminated materials coming from other
infected birds. This means that exhibitions, auctions and swap meets where birds are co-mingling pose
a high risk of unintentionally spreading this disease. Until we are confident there has been no
transference from the wild bird population migrating through the state, we need to do all we can to
minimize the exposure for our domestic birds.
The move resulted in a lot of disappointment for a lot of 4-H and FFA kids who were raising birds to
show at their local fair this year, but it has also provided them with a valuable teaching moment in
disease prevention and containment. Foreign animal diseases like this high path avian influenza are one
of the biggest threats to our livestock and poultry producers because of the high mortality rate and lack
of treatment options. High Path avian influenza is being treated as an foreign animal disease which
requires rapid detection, containment, eradication and recovery.
We have been working with Ohio companies that import poultry and eggs by requiring extra testing
before shipment. While it isn’t feasible to completely close our borders to all bird movement, requiring
testing allows us ensure the birds that are being shipped are from an NPIP flock and have been tested
before they get here. We are also working with other state agencies (ODNR, Ohio EPA, Ohio EMA) to lay
out plans for an immediate response in the event a positive is detected in order to keep an outbreak
from spreading.
Ohio is the second largest egg producer in the country and home to 28 million laying chickens, 12 million
broilers, 8.5 million pullets and 2 million turkeys. Ohio’s egg, chicken and turkey farms employ more
than 14,600 jobs and contribute $2.3 billion to the state’s economy. The first largest egg producing
state in the country, Iowa, has seen as many as 40% of its more than 50 million egg laying hens
destroyed in an effort to control the spread of the virus. Once a farm has a confirmed case of avian flu,
the poultry on the farm must be humanely euthanized and the remains composted, incinerated, or
buried.
One of the reasons the numbers are so staggering is that there is no treatment or practical vaccine for
this virus. Once commercial birds in a barn are exposed, the only way to eradicate the disease from that
barn is to depopulate, clean, and disinfect it.
Just yesterday, USDA released its preliminary epidemiologic analysis of the outbreak. The report helps
to shed some light on how, once the virus is deposited into an area by a migrating bird, it is transmitted
into commercial poultry barns in the area. While wild waterfowl are the original pathway for the virus’
introduction into the United States, early information indicates the virus was spreading in other ways as
well such as farms not decontaminating equipment or personnel properly when moving between farms.
The report also indicates that wind data may show a relationship between sustained high winds and an
increase in the number of infected farms approximately 5 days later.
It’s good information that we will be pouring through carefully in order to determine if there is a need to
amend our recommendations, but there are still many unknowns. We still believe the best means of
preventing an outbreak is good biosecurity practices on the farm. All bird owners, whether commercial
producers or backyard enthusiasts, must continue to practice good biosecurity by preventing contact
between their birds and wild birds and keeping their birds inside as much as possible. Minimizing the
potential for exposure is the best defense against having one of these viruses becoming established in
Ohio.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide information on this high path avian flu outbreak. I would be
happy to answer any questions you might have at this time.