Agency of Agriculture: Do You Keep Poultry?

Mark Bosma, mark.bosma@vermont.gov, Dept. of Public Safety, Vermont

If you raise chickens or turkeys, it is important for you to learn about Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

While not known to impact human health, this highly contagious poultry disease can be devastating to chickens and turkeys, and the farmers who depend on them for their livelihood.

The disease is most commonly spread to domestic poultry by infected waterfowl, through direct contact or contact with droppings, during migration periods. Therefore, the entire Northeast, including Vermont, is preparing for the possibility that an outbreak of HPAI could affect our region this fall or during the spring of 2016.

While the HPAI outbreak has not yet been identified in Vermont, poultry producers should become familiar with the disease, how it is spread, and preparedness efforts that they can engage in now.

If you raise poultry, please visit: http://agriculture.vermont.gov/animal_health/avian_influenza_preparedness

Education and prevention are key to minimizing the impact of the epidemic on poultry producers.

Thank you!
-The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets