Do outdoor environmental areas need to be decontaminated using disinfectants?

Answer:

Based on currently available information about avian influenza viruses, recommendations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, state government, and university experts, and past practices that successfully eliminated outbreaks of avian influenza in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not anticipate a need to apply disinfectants to outdoor environmental areas (e.g. fields, vegetation, ponds and lakes) for the purpose of inactivating avian influenza viruses.

Agricultural officials, including experienced veterinarians and other livestock specialists, have developed response plans for a potential outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus. These plans call for quarantining affected areas, euthanizing poultry, disposing of carcasses, cleaning and disinfecting poultry houses,

Federally-inspected meat and poultry processing plants and associated facilities, equipment, and vehicles, in accordance with use directions on disinfectant product labels, and taking other specified actions to effectively respond to an outbreak of avian influenza A virus. Furthermore, scientific studies demonstrate that organic matter, such as manure and soils, greatly diminishes the effectiveness of disinfectants.

Current uses of registered disinfectants are limited to poultry houses, Federally-inspected meat and poultry processing plants, farm facilities, equipment, and vehicles. Expanding the permitted uses of registered disinfectants to include outdoor environmental areas is not expected to be beneficial and could possibly result in unreasonable adverse risks to the environment and public health. The actions called for by the response plans that allow for the natural attenuation or inactivation of the virus are expected to be adequate measures for mitigating an outbreak of avian influenza A virus in poultry.

Last Updated: 05/22/2007