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Why test your birds if you suspect avian influenza?
- Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is highly contagious and fatal for poultry.
- As a virus, HPAI needs a host to survive and spread. HPAI will spread through and kill an entire flock. (Graphic: Healthy chickens next to an infected chicken, and virus going toward the healthy birds.)
- Testing allows for early detection of HPAI in flocks, which can help limit painful, severe illness in other birds.
- Disease status affects ALL aspects of poultry in Minnesota.
- Regardless of flock size, detecting and managing HPAI is critical for preventing disease spread and protecting the welfare of all flocks. (Graphic: Small flock of geese and a large commercial flock of chickens with a plus sign between them.)
- Priority should be placed on poultry welfare.
- Humane euthanasia of HPAI-positive flocks is necessary to limit severe, fatal illness in birds and disease spread.
- Your assigned case manager will arrange euthanasia by trained personnel following methods approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association. (Graphic: Upturned hand underneath a chicken enclosed in a heart.)
- Personnel entering/exiting your premises will follow strict biosecurity practices.
Minnesota Avian Influenza Hotline: 1-833-454-0156.
Graphics: University of Minnesota Extension logo and Minnesota Board of Animal Health logo.