Delmarva’s poultry industry is organizing to stop the spread of avian influenza.
All three states on the broiler-producing peninsula have had cases in the first half of January — two in Kent County, Delaware; two in Caroline County, Maryland; and one each in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, and Accomack County, Virginia.
The region had fewer than 10 outbreaks in commercial poultry in the first three years of the nationwide outbreak, even as neighboring Pennsylvania lost more than 4 million birds in 32 commercial flocks.
The warning signs for Delmarva's new spate of outbreaks began in late December, when a die-off of snow geese began at Delaware’s Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge.
By Jan. 3, Delaware had counted more than 850 dead wild birds, mostly snow geese — and the state had its first case in commercial poultry since 2022.
“The prevalence of the virus in the wild bird population is like nothing that we have ever seen on Delmarva before, and your farms are at extremely high risk,” Delaware Ag Secretary Michael Scuse said.
Scuse joined government and Extension officials on a Jan. 17 webinar to discuss the situation.
What Happens in an Outbreak
For a farmer, an outbreak response begins when the integrator reports a positive test. The farmer will have some paperwork to fill out, and state and federal personnel will come to the farm to depopulate and compost the birds. The farmer can choose to be involved with these processes, said Dr. Karen Lopez, Delaware’s state veterinarian.
Though farmers will have a lot of help responding to the outbreak, the process can still be emotionally taxing.
“Any farmers around you that are going through a lot, just reach out and check on them. It means a lot if you can just call someone,” said Jenny Rhodes, a University of Maryland Extension educator in Queen Anne’s County.
Infected farms are publicly identified only by county, not by address. That step is to protect the growers and to reduce the risk of reporters and onlookers trying to get footage of the farm. The additional traffic can spread the disease, Scuse said.
Control Zones Around a Farm
An infected farm is surrounded by several zones that carry different levels of restriction. They are typically in place for four to six weeks while the dead birds are composted and the farm is cleaned up, Lopez said.
The control area consists of two circles around the infected farm.
In Delaware at least, birds may not be placed in the infected zone — within 3 kilometers of an infected farm — until the control area is released, Lopez said.
This graphic shows the zones around a farm infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza. A control area extends in a 10-kilometer radius from the farm. Within the control area are the 3-kilometer infected zone, with the tightest controls on poultry transportation, and the buffer zone, where flocks are tested weekly. Outside the control area is the 10 km-wide surveillance zone, where flocks are tested every two weeks during the outbreak.
From 3 to 10 kilometers beyond the infected farm is the buffer zone, where farms undergo surveillance testing every week until the control area is released.
Another 10 kilometers outside the control area is the surveillance zone, where flocks are tested every two weeks.
There are no restrictions on placing chicks in the surveillance zone. But since the beginning of the year, USDA has required farms to pass a biosecurity audit before placing day-old chicks in the buffer zone if they want to remain eligible for indemnity should those birds get avian influenza.
A farmer’s contact at the poultry company should know if the farm needs an audit and should help line that up, said Dr. Heather Hirst, a USDA veterinarian.
The audit process is taking about a week right now, but that could shorten as companies get used to the new procedure, Hirst said.
For the week of Jan. 20, some control-area farms have been approved for post-placement audits, which will be done after the birds are in place. Pre-placement audits will be the standard starting about Jan. 27, said Holly Porter, the executive director of Delmarva Chicken Association.
Litter Restrictions
In response to the outbreaks, Maryland and Delaware are requiring farmers to keep poultry litter in a manure storage or to cover litter stockpiled outdoors. Litter may be transported, but it must be covered after it is unloaded, and the trailers used in hauling it must be cleaned.
Maryland’s restrictions apply from Jan. 8 to Feb. 8 and apply only to the nine Eastern Shore counties. Farmers do not have to do anything with litter that was stockpiled before Jan. 8.
The concern is not that the litter itself is carrying disease — if the litter is coming out of a house, it's because the birds were sent to slaughter, which requires a negative avian influenza test. But the piles can cause wildlife to congregate, potentially spreading disease.
“I think we've all seen what congregates around those piles. It's the buzzards and the vultures,” Scuse said. “And now that we know that they're carriers, the next stop that they usually make will be around somebody’s poultry farm.”
Farmers can choose the material to cover the pile. Steve Connelly, Maryland’s deputy ag secretary, said hay, straw or ag cloth should be adequate. He discouraged using mushroom soil, which might attract wildlife.
“It's up to the farmer to make a judgment call. I don't think you want to be the farmer that may be implicated (in an outbreak) and affecting your neighbors,” Connelly said.
Farmers should also ensure they are properly composting their normal mortalities. Poorly composted carcasses attract vermin, said Georgie Cartanza, a University of Delaware Extension educator.
Wild Bird Deterrence
Keeping wild birds away from poultry farms is an important biosecurity practice.
Farmers can discourage birds from congregating on water by laying wire or fishing line in grids across ponds.
Birds may be scared away with hunting, lasers, scary eye balloons, “wavy man” inflatables, reflective tape, bald eagle replicas, vehicles, noisemakers and dogs.
The key to deterrence seems to be keeping the scare object moving so birds don’t acclimate to it, Cartanza said.
Dog owners should wipe paws after their pets chase geese to remove any feces that could be tracked around or licked off. Cats have died after exposure to avian influenza in milk, so cat owners may want to keep those pets inside and away from wild bird areas, Lopez said.
Compensation
Infected farms are eligible for indemnity, which applies to the cost of the birds and the cost of disposing of them.
Farms can receive this money as a flat rate or submit receipts to USDA for reimbursement, Lopez said.
The farm can also receive compensation for virus elimination, the process of disinfecting the house.
USDA offers no compensation for uninfected farms that must wait to restock their houses because they are in a control area.
Pennsylvania created a fund to fill this gap and cover other losses for its poultry industry, but other states have not followed suit.
Scuse said he has been working with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., to put language in the new Farm Bill that will compensate contract poultry, beef and pork producers for such disease-related disruptions.
