TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – Robin Hood is one of the thousands of Texas farmers taking precautions to protect their livestock during the bird flu outbreak.
When it comes to raising chickens, Hood takes extra safety precautions, especially in response to the recent outbreak of bird flu.
“Avian influenza is a type of influenza that primarily affects birds,” says Richard Wallace, an infectious disease health specialist at UT Health in East Texas.
Nowadays, people are also affected by it.
According to the CDC, a total of 66 human cases of avian influenza have been reported, with only one death confirmed to date.
“They all lived on farms and had direct exposure to infected poultry,” Dr. Wallace said.
Robin Hood Farms has developed a sanitation system that places the chickens inside a mobile chicken tractor.
“We run it every day,” Hood said. “We use that shelter to prevent them from coming into contact with wild bird populations. By keeping these two populations separate, we greatly reduce the risk of transmitting influenza to the flock.”
Older chickens are more susceptible to avian influenza.
“The older chickens we raise raise eggs,” says Dr. Wallace. “That’s why eggs are so hard to find and why they’re so expensive when you do find them.”
Rural areas of Texas are also susceptible to avian influenza, but to date there has only been one case of avian influenza in Texas, and that was in a dairy herd.
“If you don’t work on a farm, your exposure is minimal,” says Dr. Wallace. “And if you do come into contact with bird flu, it is treatable.”
Dr. Wallace says bird flu is treated like any other flu-like illness.
Rural areas of Texas are also susceptible to avian influenza, but to date there has only been one outbreak in Texas, and that was in a dairy herd.
Robin Hood says that although there is a bit more labor involved in running the farm, it’s worth it to protect the chickens and the community.
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