Bird Flu confirmed in Grady County backyard poultry

By Jayson Knight

This afternoon, Grady County recorded a confirmed case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in backyard poultry, according to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. A second case was confirmed the same day in McClain County. Two weeks ago, two wild waterfowl in Tulsa County also tested positive for the virus.

State Veterinarian Dr. Rod Hall said the detections coincide with the southward migration of wild waterfowl, which increases the likelihood of infected birds passing through Oklahoma and shedding the virus in their feces. Those migratory birds often stop at local ponds and water sources before moving on.

Hall said most backyard outbreaks share the same risk factors: a pond or water source attracting wild waterfowl near domestic poultry, or owners allowing their birds to roam close to those areas.

“The water source attracts the migratory waterfowl,” Hall said in his notice to producers. “Another common theme is the owner of the domestic birds allows the wild waterfowl to come close to their domestic birds in hopes of finding food, or even worse, allowing their domestic birds to roam and go to the water source where they are exposed to the wild waterfowl and their feces.”

To add local guidance, Grady County Extension Agriculture Educator Kelly Burrows said residents with backyard flocks can dramatically reduce risk by tightening basic biosecurity habits.

“With regard to avian influenza, people that have poultry or backyard chickens, there are processes, biosecurity processes, that you can follow that will greatly limit the potential spread of the disease from one flock to another,” Burrows said. “There are just certain things that you do or don’t do to expose your flock to the possibility of getting the contamination.”

Burrows said even small, simple measures make a difference.

“It’s good to have one set of footwear that you use going in and out of your coop every day,” he said. “You want to use the same footwear. Bringing new birds from other places into your flock can be a potential for spreading the disease. If you’re anywhere close to a water source or a pond where wild birds are utilizing that water source, that’s definitely a potential for spread.”

He noted that migration season always brings an increase in HPAI detections, making ponds and runoff areas the highest-risk locations for backyard birds.

“If your flock has access to a pond that has wild birds in it, that’s definitely an increased risk,” Burrows said.

Hall urged Oklahomans to “immediately implement the strongest biosecurity they can” to prevent additional backyard cases. Suspicious illnesses or sudden deaths in domestic birds should be reported to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Burrows said the Grady County Extension Center also has fact sheets available for anyone seeking more information on protecting their flocks.