UC Davis bird flu expert urges owners of backyard chickens to take precautions

DAVIS, Calif. - With the spread of bird flu prompting an emergency declaration from Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, a veterinarian and epidemiologist at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, said people who handle backyard chickens could be at increased risk of contracting the virus. 

"We are in the thick of it right now," Maurice Pitesky, associate professor at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, said on Thursday. ""There are a lot of birds carrying this virus."

There are an estimated 100,000 backyard chickens in California, in all types of environments – from rural to urban settings. 

Pitesky urged owners to take precautions, like wearing rubber gloves, boots, and dedicated clothing. 

"Clothing that is 100 percent dedicated to your coop—don’t bring it inside," he advised. "I’m also recommending people wear a surgical mask."

On a national level, the first severe U.S. case of bird flu was reported on Wednesday, when a man in Louisiana was hospitalized in critical condition with severe respiratory problems after coming into contact with infected chickens in his backyard flock. Officials said the man, 65, had other underlying health conditions. 

The current bird flu outbreak in the United States is part of a larger, global trend.

 It is believed to have originated in wild waterfowl, including geese and ducks, that may carry the virus without becoming ill or exhibiting symptoms. 

Pitestky said more steps need to be taken to prevent contact between waterfowl and dairy cattle. 

"We ultimately need to spatially separate where we grow our food - poultry, dairy, beef and swine - from waterfowl habitat," he said. "California has lost 95 percent of its natural wetlands. You have all these waterfowl using suboptimal habitat like dairy lagoons, to spend 10 to 14 hours a day roosting. They're shedding the virus." 

The situation underscores the importance of vigilance as California continues to combat the virus' spread.

State officials report that 34 people in California have tested positive for avian flu, also known as bird flu, this year. 

All cases involved individuals who had close contact with cattle or poultry. Officials emphasized that the overall risk to the general population remains low for now.

California, one of the largest milk-producing states, has seen bird flu infections in herds at more than 645 dairy farms this year.

The emergency declaration allows the state to allocate additional resources to affected farms and counties, relax labor laws to extend work hours for testing and treatment, and manage the disease in both animals and humans.

"We still don't have a routine human test," said Jeffrey Klausner, an infectious disease expert and public health sciences professor at the Keck School of Medicine at USC. "The test for bird flu has to go to public laboratories. I'm hopeful this state of emergency will encourage California health officials to develop our own tests with state resources."

Until recently, bird flu cases in California had been confined to cows in the Central Valley. 

However, a case discovered on Dec. 12 in Southern California signaled a wider spread of the virus among cattle, prompting a statewide emergency response, according to the governor’s office.