Despite the depopulation of approximately 7.5 million turkeys on 173 farms in seven states, a spokesperson for the National Turkey Federation assured consumers of availability of turkeys for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Ms. Beth Breeding advised customers to shop early, to plan ahead and check with retailers and to sign onto a waiting list if they require a special bird.
Breeding noted correctly that older birds have been disproportionately impacted by the H5N1 virus. Susceptibility is not related to age. Older flocks consume feed at a faster rate and accordingly have more feed deliveries than younger flocks increasing the probability of virus being introduced onto farms.
Despite the widespread distribution and ongoing incidence rate of HPAI in turkey flocks the USDA-APHIS has not released any epidemiologic information based on molecular assays or field investigations. It would have been expected that the Agency would be able to identify and evaluate risk factors and to have provided guidance to producers to upgrade specific aspects of either structural or operational biosecurity.
The APHIS has yet to release data on surveillance of domestic birds that may have become reservoirs of infection potentially disseminating the pathogen. Outbreaks on turkey farms in addition to backyard flocks continued during summer months when there was no migration of waterfowl suggesting a more extensive presence of virus including in endemic wild birds unlike in the 2015 epornitic.