 Avian influenza is a respiratory virus in birds very similar to influenza in people so I mean it's the same sort of thing in birds something that travels very quickly between different birds in the respiratory system so it's very similar to influenza in people. Avian influenza however is a bird issue in the United States and the way we raise poultry in the United States minimizes any any potential issues between people and birds. We do not have sick birds go into the food supply so there is no issue with avian influenza as a health issue for people in terms of eating chicken or eggs. Avian influenza is spread by waterfowl that have contracted it in mixing with birds from Asia so as they move north now toward their summer grounds in in the Arctic there's they're potentially spreading avian influenza as they go so it is transmitted either through the feces of the ducks for instance as they're flying or it can be transmitted bird to bird just as any other respiratory disease. We can get initial avian influenza flocks from waterfowl flying over but much of the problem from there stems from the disease being spread from farm to farm or from small flock to small flock by people and other animals so isolating birds with biosecurity reduces the risk of avian influenza spread so that is one of the main ways we have to keep avian influenza from spreading. From a biosecurity standpoint we normally suggest that people wear separate clothes and separate boots to visit their poultry particularly if they have other friends that have poultry or they live in an area with a lot of commercial poultry so that they do not bring things into their flock. Most people will have a boot bath too so that they can dip their boots into a cleaning solution as they go in and out of their coop. You want to keep your coop closed it with netting over the top to keep birds and mice and things like that out. Also normally we suggest limiting visitors particularly if they're visitors that either have poultry or have pet birds like parakeets, cockatiels and things like that because you can spread disease that way. Under the current circumstances where we have a worry of avian influenza I would not allow visitors at all for the time being. Also it's not a time to be taking part in poultry shows or poultry swap meets or things like that. The state has put a stop movement of poultry on at this time so that all poultry shows will be canceled. When chickens and other poultry get sick they tend to mope around with their shoulders hunched and their head between their shoulders and their eyes closed. Chickens have feathers so it's a little more difficult to tell when they're sick than it is with other animals but you can tell by their body language and as with a lot of respiratory diseases if they're having trouble breathing and that sort of thing. That's an indication that they have a respiratory disease of some sort and should check with the state to see what the problem is. If backyard flock owners have some mortality birds will die from time to time but if their chickens are obviously sick and several birds have died they should take several birds to the state and call the state commissioner of ag in industry's office and have those birds looked at to make sure they're not having influenza problems. In Alabama we have four state diagnostic labs that are regionally located so that people can have their birds checked if they have a disease problem. Those labs are in Boaz, Hanceville, Auburn and Elba and you can take a few sick birds to those labs have them tested for a range of poultry diseases and they will test to see if it is avian influenza. There's a small charge but if you are trying to decide what type of disease your birds have and what to do about it it's worth the money and effort.