HPAI Letter to Private Practice Vets in New England

Avian Flu Updates from New England State Veterinarians
Guidelines for Private Sector Vets

The New England State Veterinarians are working together to provide consistent guidance and support during the current outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (a.k.a. HPAI or H5N1). They have just released a letter to private sector veterinarians with guidelines for what to do when encountering HPAI in poultry patients.

Due to this virus being a Foreign Animal Disease, only state and federal officials should perform this testing because the consequences of a positive, or false negative, test are so high.

They ask that you DO NOT obtain samples from poultry that you suspect may be infected with HPAI! Instead promptly report suspected cases to the State Veterinarian.

Collect the following information on the flock the flock:

• owner’s complete name, email, and phone number
• the physical address where the flock is kept (not P.O. Box)
• total number of birds in the flock, types of birds, and total number of sick birds
• total number of birds that have recently died (previous 14 days) in the flock
• date of onset of clinical illness & mortality
• clinical signs observed

CLICK HERE for the full letter.