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Highly pathogenic avian influenza continues to make its way through Washington. The latest detection was confirmed Friday, in a backyard flock in Snohomish County. The Washington State Department of Agriculture is responding to the outbreak and urging flock owners to devote all efforts to protecting uninfected flocks, especially keeping domestic flocks isolated from wild waterfowl.

“In all backyard detections, we’ve seen significant exposure to wild waterfowl,” Dr. Amber Itle, Washington State Veterinarian, said.  

Flock owners, the Department noted, can take steps to prevent introducing diseases to their flocks by practicing good biosecurity, including washing boots or shoes before entering and when leaving a chicken coop, sanitizing equipment used around poultry, and wearing clean clothing around birds. WSDA has numerous resources for flock owners to learn about bird flu and protect their flocks, including a bird flu webpage with information about each confirmed flock with HPAI, an interactive map, and a Facebook group dedicated to updates about bird flu in Washington. WSDA also has avian influenza videos on its YouTube channel.

If your flock experiences sudden death or illness of multiple birds, call WSDA’s Sick Bird Hotline at (800) 606-3056. Birds that have already died should be double-bagged and kept in a cooler on ice until WSDA veterinarians can make arrangements for sampling. Do not allow scavenger birds access to dead domestic birds as this can further spread the virus.

“The virus is present in all corners of our state,” Itle added. “It’s so important we remain vigilant.”

If you come across sick or dead wild birds, you are asked to submit that information via the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's Website.

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