Despite the lack of a single documented case in the state of Michigan, the latest avian pandemic sweeping farms across the country is having a tremendous impact on Cass County.

Between residents paying more at the grocery store for a carton of eggs to local 4-H fairs pulling poultry exhibitions for the summer, it appears an ever growing number of feathers are being ruffled in the wake of the growing outbreak of bird flu that has killed off 40 million chickens and turkeys in the U.S.

For a swine-expert like local Michigan State University Extension Educator Beth Ferry, the continuing fallout over this developing poultry crisis as been an eye-opening experience, she said.

“I’m learning a lot more about chickens, because I’m getting call, after call, after call,” Ferry said.

The local livestock and farming expert discussed the avian flu outbreak during her presentation to members of the Dowagiac Rotary Club, who met at the Elks Lodge Thursday afternoon. Ferry was invited to talk about the subject by Rotarian and Cass County Clerk/Register Monica Kennedy, in light of this week’s cancelation of all poultry and waterfowl exhibitions by the state.

Strains of the influenza virus that target chicken, turkey and other birds are hardly uncommon, though most are fairly harmless, with the most significant side-effect being that hens lay less eggs than usual, Ferry said. The strain that has been wrecking havoc across farms across the country, though, a high pathogen, that not only typically kills the infected bird within days of contracting the disease, but is also
highly contagious.

The origin of this super virus appears to have come from several other strains across the world, Ferry said.

“We’re seeing a strain from Asia, we’re seeing a strain from Europe, and we’re seeing a strain that we have documented in our water fowl here in the U.S.,” she said. “They’ve all mixed together and we have this all new avian flu strain that’s running around, killing our birds.”

So far, 20 different states have had confirmed fatalities from the new bird flu, in both commercial and backyard farms, Ferry said.

In Michigan, when a strain of flu is discovered in a particular farm, the state will actually euthanize the entire flock to ensure that the virus doesn’t spread to other locations.

“The state pays to have it done and pays for every chicken in that flock,” Ferry said. “The state of Michigan is not a position to pay for all of this if we had a statewide spread of this. This is why the state came down so hard and said no poultry shows this year.”