Health officials say bird flu risk is low for Texans, caution those who work closely with animals

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The state's chief epidemiologist said the risk of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), also known as H5N1 Bird Flu, spreading among the general population in Texas is very low. Still, he cautioned farm workers and people with backyard chicken flocks to be extra careful around animals.

Dr. Varun Shetty, the chief epidemiologist at Texas Department of State Health Services, agreed to speak with Nexstar about the risks of HPAI as more scientists around the country express worry the virus could mutate to allow for human-to-human transmission.

The virus can spread to humans who come into contact with a sick animal, but a risk assessment from the Johns Hopkins Center for Outbreak Response Innovation in December listed the potential for human-to-human transmission as high for farm workers, but low for the general public.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there have been 58 confirmed cases of humans with HPAI in the United States this year. One of those cases was reported in Texas. Shetty said that man came into contact with a sick dairy cow while on the job. He was treated for mild symptoms and made a full recovery, according to Shetty.

The United States Department of Agriculture announced last week it is requiring raw milk collected at dairy farms to be tested for the virus on request. This is to monitor the presence of H5N1 in the nation's milk supply.

Currently, there is no case of human-to-human transmission of HPAI, and Shetty said the risk of human-to-human spread in Texas is low.

"We have not to date seen any genetic changes or mutations that would make this virus more dangerous," Shetty said.

It is more likely for someone to become sick with the common or seasonal flu than the avian flu, Shetty explained. All of them show similar symptoms -- like fever, cough, runny nose, and body aches -- but Shetty said something different about the avian flu cases in Texas and around the country is eye irritation and the presence of Conjunctivitis, or pink-eye.

However, Shetty does advise people who work closely with cattle and poultry to take steps to keep themselves safe. This can include wearing goggles, face shields, and masks.

What to do with your backyard flock

Rhonda Winegar has been a nurse practitioner for more than 20 years, and has owned chickens in her backyard for the same amount of time.

"Chickens are just so relaxing and fun to watch," Winegar explained. She has names for all of them and treats them like members of the family. She is not worried about the risk of HPAI. After more than two decades with them, she knows how to keep her birds safe and healthy.

She keeps the chicken coup clean with new shavings replaced every week for her birds. She owns a separate pair of shoes that are solely for being inside the chicken coup to keep everything outside of her home. She also has separate bird feeders to keep wild birds away from her flock as they feed.

"You don't want to drag in like chicken droppings and everything in your house," Winegar said. She knows how fast an infection can wipe out a flock. She did have one bad year where she bought a sick chicken and introduced it into her flock too quickly. That sick chicken quickly infected and killed everything else. She now makes sure to keep any new chickens quarantined before introducing them to the entire flock.

Winegar is the perfect example of a chicken owner for Dawna Michalke, a training inspector for the Texas Animal Health Commission. The commission keeps track of flocks and cattle farms that are infected by HPAI. This year, three flocks were infected by the virus, but there has not been a confirmed case in the past eight months.

Michalke said the main source of infection of domestic birds is migratory waterfowl. As those wild birds make their way to their seasonal homes, some fly right in the path of Texas. Those wild birds can come into contact with domestic birds and cause infections, Michalke explained.

"They're carrying that, and then they come down and feed with your birds, you may not even recognize it," Michalke said about wild birds with the virus. Humans that come into contact with sick birds can become infected as well.

The warning signs are fairly obvious, according to Michalke. "We see a lot of morbidity and mortality. It means you see sick birds or you see dead birds," Michalke said.

She advises both commercial farms and hobbyists to practice safe biosecurity measures. That includes keeping the coup, and anything that transports or tools that get near the animals, is clean. She also says there needs to be a line of separation, a defined boundary between the birds and everything else.

The warning signs to look out for in your chickens are a lack of energy and appetite. HPAI will happen fast, Michalke said.