Bird flu reported in Santa Rosa backyard flock, nearly a year after deadly commercial outbreak in Sonoma County

The highly pathogenic strain of bird flu devastated poultry farms in Sonoma County last fall and winter.

No one knows if this year’s bird flu season will be as deadly. But it starts earlier.

An avian flu infection has been confirmed in a non-commercial poultry flock in southwest Santa Rosa, according to the bird’s owner and Mike Weber, co-owner of Sunrise Farms brand egg units and Weber Family Farms, one of the farms in region. the biggest producers.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture had not confirmed the outbreak before 5 p.m. Friday. A state veterinarian was said to be en route from Redding to the affected property

Meanwhile, residents were making grim preparations for what they believed would be the euthanasia of their entire flock of at least 55 pet birds. Federal agriculture officials were on hand to help remove the birds.

“The (U.S. Department of Agriculture) people asked us to corral our remaining birds so they could kill them, and I just started crying,” said Julie Meyer, who lives on Primrose Avenue with her husband Dick. “It goes against everything my heart beats for.”

The case is likely to sound the alarm in the county’s farm belt, which operated under strict site blocking and other strict protocols during the state of emergency at the county level that began almost a year ago and resulted in a $20 million loss for the companies.

Between late November 2023 and early January 2024, the Department of Agriculture’s federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service traced the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, through 10 separate poultry facilities around Sonoma County. The virus triggered the destruction of more than 1.2 million birds, including chickens and ducks raised for both eggs and meat.

The county has not seen a confirmed case in a backyard herd since January 2023.

As local poultry businesses prepare for another potential wave of bird flu, its appearance before Halloween is a serious occasion.

And heartbreak for Julie Meyer.

“They’re so much fun,” she told The Press Democrat. “Do you know Muscovy ducks have their own language and talk to each other? They don’t hang around. They whistle and talk. In the evening, we’ll just go sit on the chairs and watch the birds interact. Our chickens are hand raised. And they’re so fun and not stupid at all.”

The Meyers had chickens, roosters, guinea hens, geese, ducks, turkeys, peafowl and peacocks, as well as chickens of several species. Most are free, with the peacock in an aviary. They have been keeping birds on more than four hectares for 26 years, said Julie, whose middle name is Peacock.

“One or two occasionally die,” she observed. “It’s the cycle of life.”

But the cycle came full circle Sunday when the Meyers found two of their 4-month-old guinea hens dead in their coop. It seemed strange, but the couple didn’t suspect greater forces at work. Then the deaths started piling up: a few hours later, there were chickens. A few hours later, some ducks.

Meyer began calling local veterinarians. She made an appointment at Analy Veterinary Hospital in Sebastopol for Bob, the Meyer family’s beloved (and then sick) pet goose. That was Monday. By Tuesday morning, Bob was dead.

When Julie asked the hospital if she could bring in another sick bird, they said no. He could be infected with bird flu.

On Wednesday morning, Dick Meyer drove two dead birds to the UC Davis Department of Pathology. Friday morning, after several other animals died, the university called and confirmed it was the HPAI variant, Julie Meyer said.

She called The Press Democrat the same day.

“We want to be responsible. And make others aware,” she said. “I am sorry to think how little I knew about it.”

The Santa Rosa case is just the second statewide this season. The first was at a larger commercial facility in Tulare County on Oct. 16.

Mike Weber, who owns a Sunrise Farms egg plant on Todd Road, just over a mile away from the Meyer property, hailed Julie as a hero.

“This woman should be recognized for doing the right thing,” Weber said. “They spotted the birds, took them to the lab, are working with the state to minimize the risk. This thing is like a fire and they’re putting the fire out right now.”

Sunrise Farms has provided equipment and protective gear to CDFA for the euthanasia effort that is beginning. As soon as the company was notified, Mike Weber said, it began contacting other poultry suppliers in the county.

“There is a real risk,” Weber said. “Birds are like virus factories. Once one of them is infected, it releases an enormous amount of virus and that will spread to all kinds of birds in the areas.”

When they learned of the positive test, the Meyers began draining their pond, which had recently been home to migrating wild ducks.

“They would come and eat the grain that we gave the pet birds,” Julie Meyer said. “I thought, ‘Isn’t that cute?’ Now I know it’s not pretty.”

Sonoma County is in the Pacific Flyway, where approximately 1 billion birds travel from north to south each fall. These wild birds are a known vector for bird flu, spreading the virus to commercial chickens and ducks through their respiratory system when in close proximity.

Recent cross-species transmission in dairy cattle has wreaked havoc on dairy products, but so far has not proven nearly as lethal to cows. Bird flu also has it it was detected in three people in the USalthough all were thought to have mild symptoms. Elsewhere in the world, at least five people have died from highly pathogenic avian influenza since the beginning of 2022.

The Meyers sprayed parts of their property with diluted bleach and received additional instructions from the state.

“They said, ‘Leave all your clothes and shoes in the yard when you come in,'” Julie reflected. “I said, ‘You’re a little late.’ We had been going in and out for two days.”

On Friday, just before 3:30 p.m., representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed up, donned protective gear outside the Meyers’ front gate and began setting up the bins that would be used to dispose of the dead birds.

They were waiting for Dr. Steve Lyle, a veterinarian in the Redding office of the state Department of Food and Agriculture. Julie Meyer hoped her peacock might be spared, but she wasn’t counting on it.

She also felt pretty unlucky.

“How the hell did this happen to me and my birds?” Meyer said.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.