Poultry have low resistance to the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus which can spread rapidly through flocks. The mortality rate for poultry can be 90-100 percent, often within 48 hours. The virus has the greatest opportunity to mutate into more harmful forms in the crowded environment of factory farms where huge flocks are housed together and where there is close contact with their human caretakers. Exportation of poultry and hatching eggs can spread the disease to the commercial poultry industry in other countries and to small farms.

To reduce that risk, the U.S. has banned the importation of poultry from countries where the avian flu virus has been found. The federal government has also stepped-up monitoring of the poultry trade which includes commerce in manure, feathers, eggs, and billions of birds every year. Smuggling of these poultry and poultry products is considered by many to be the primary way avian flu is likely to be spread into other countries.

The links provided below offer additional information about the impact of avian flu on the poultry industry worldwide and the precautions being taken to protect commercial flocks and other domestic poultry in the United States.

• Information for those who own poultry on how to prevent outbreaks of avian flu in their flocks; how to report sick or dead farm birds, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  

• Avian flu information for owners of small flocks of poultry, University of Maine Cooperative  Extension.
  

• Report from GRAIN says wild birds and small farms are being unfairly blamed for the spread of avian flu. GRAIN is an international non-governmental organization based in Spain.

• Article: U.S. poultry farms defend against bird flu
  Washington Post (AP), April 22, 2006

• U.S. poultry experts using Google to prepare for bird flu, Reuters, May 30, 2006.

Please visit our Q & A section for answers to other questions about avian flu.

• When and how is avian flu predicted to arrive in the U.S. and Canada?
• What will happen if the highly pathogenic virus is detected in the United States?
• How are birds affected by avian influenza?