Abstract
Since the beginning of the 2022 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak in the United States, poultry health professionals have faced unique challenges to outbreak control as the virus has evolved. Consequently, new drivers of risk have emerged, such as the detection of H5N1 2.3.4.4b in dairy cattle, which have impacted previously established pathways of HPAI introduction and spread. The University of Minnesota (UMN) Secure Poultry Supply (SPS) team performs risk analyses for continuity of business movements for use in HPAI outbreaks. With the help of a public-private industry working group, these risk assessments (RA) consider current biosecurity practices, virus characteristics, commodity and movement type, and workgroup-approved targeted mitigations to analyze the drivers of risk of disease spread to susceptible poultry as a result of the movement. Given the evolving circumstances, the approach to analysis needs to be modified to include, for example, new mammalian pathways that were once deemed low risk. To address these new challenges, the UMN SPS team is adapting its approach to analysis for new RAs to include potential new sources of virus introduction into a flock and emphasizing the most relevant drivers of risk. Additionally, previously published RAs will be updated with this new method of analysis.
Co-Author(s)
Mickey Leonard, University of Minnesota; Rosemary Marusak, University of Minnesota; Erin Cortus, University of Minnesota; Carol Cardona, University of Minnesota; Timothy Goldsmith, University of Minnesota; Marie Culhane, University of Minnesota
Abstract Category
Biosecurity, mitigation, control, and post-epidemic considerations in poultry