A backyard poultry flock in eastern Montana is this spring’s first state-announced casualty of the bird flu.
The Montana Department of Livestock says it confirmed the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza on April 14 in Rosebud County. According to a news release, there were several dozen chickens in the flock and they all died due to the infection.
The bird flu is fatal to poultry, and easily transmittable via saliva and other secretions from migratory wild birds and waterfowl like ducks or swans.
State veterinarian Martin Zaluski says bird flu spread coincides with migratory pathways, and infections tend to increase first on the east coast before being detected further west.
“So, we’re basically expecting in the state of Montana that the risk is going to increase as we move through the calendar year,” said Zaluski.
The Department of Livestock suggests domestic poultry owners limit their birds’ outside access or keep them inside entirely, use separate clothing while working with their birds to avoid spreading the flu via contamination.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the likelihood of transmission to humans is low, and those most at risk are people who come into prolonged, unprotected contact with infected birds and contaminated environments, like poultry owners.
Zaluski says dogs and cats are also unlikely hosts.
He says pets could get the virus from consuming an infected bird, but walking through parks or other casual exposure poses a low risk.
He says while bird flu in people shares symptoms with the human flu, symptoms in a dog or cat could present as neurological issues like tremors. Zaluski says owners should bring their animal to the vet if they see signs of illness and take precautions like using gloves to discard of waste.
