A Threat to U.S. Poultry
Worldwide, there are many strains of avian influenza (AI) virus that can cause varying amounts of clinical illness in poultry. AI viruses can infect chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks, geese and guinea fowl, as well as a wide variety of other birds. Migratory waterfowl have proved to be a natural reservoir for the less infectious strains of the disease known as low-pathogenicity avian influenza.
AI viruses can be classified into low-pathogenicity (LPAI) and high-pathogenicity (HPAI) based on the severity of the illness they cause. HPAI is an extremely infectious and fatal form of the disease that, once established, can spread rapidly from flock to flock. However, some LPAI virus strains are capable of mutating under field conditions into HPAI viruses.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) works to keep HPAI from becoming established in the U.S. poultry population.
Oct 2, 2007 APHIS Permits Entry of Hunted Wild Birds and Details Restrictions On Poultry Products from the Saskatchewan Province in Canada
Sep 27, 2007 Statement By Dr. John Clifford on Avian Influenza Detection in Canada
Jul 17, 2007 Statement by Dr. John Clifford on Confirmatory Avian Influenza Tests From Turkey Samples in Virginia
Jul 11, 2007 Statement By Dr. John Clifford On Avian Influenza Detection In Virginia
Apr 1, 2007 Statement by Dr. John Clifford on H5N2 Detection in West Virginia
Outreach Materials
Avian: Don't Import Trouble! (poster)
Avian: Keep Bird Flu out of the United States (poster)
Avian: Backyard Biosecurity: Keeping Your Birds Healthy 2008 Calendar (English/Spanish)
4 MB
Avian: Don't Smuggle Me... I Could be Sick (poster)
Avian: Bird Flu What You Need To Know (poster)
Avian: Help Find Bird Flu (poster)
Backyard Biosecurity: 6 Ways to Prevent Poultry Disease (Vietnamese/English | Chinese | Tagalog | poster)
Biosecurity: Protecting Your Livestock and Poultry
Biosecurity for the Birds (coloring book)
Biosesurity for the Birds, Q & A
Biosecurity Guide for Poultry and Bird Owners
GUÍA DE BIOSEGURIDAD para propietarios de aves y aves de corral
Helping You, the Poultry Breeder, Prevent Disease
National Poultry Improvement Plan: Seventy Years of Poultry Improvement
Prevention and Control of H5 and H7 Low Pathogenicity Avian
Influenza in the Live Bird Marketing System - Uniform Standards for a State-Federal-Industry Cooperative Program
Protecting America's Live Bird Market
Protect Your Pet Bird From Bird Flu
Proteja a su ave de la influenza aviar
USDA/APHIS Further Guidance on Biosecurity and Disease Prevention and Control for Nonconfinement Poultry Production Operations
Last Modified: December 1, 2008
December 1, 2008