Since the NLCRPD jurisdiction includes one of the largest migratory waterfowl and propagation areas on the east coast, the NLCRPD has enacted a protocol related to the need for awareness and a adherence to the requirements of bio-security zones. These are restrictive designated areas in and around commercial, private and other agri-business related facilities or bio-security zones. This directive was issued last week in to NLCRPD patrol and CID members in response to the potential for emergent areas of concern over the transmission of the avian flu by migratory waterfowl.

A strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in Michigan bird flu has also been detected at commercial turkey farms in southern Indiana, a flock of commercial broiler chickens in Kentucky, a commercial poultry flock in Delaware, a backyard flock of mixed species birds in northern Virginia, and in New York and Maine, both at a single non-commercial backyard flock. The virus strain is potentially deadly to commercial poultry. The bird flu cases are among the latest in the U.S. that have put farms that raise turkeys and chickens for meat and eggs on high alert, fearing a repeat of a 2015 bird flu outbreak that killed 50 million birds across 15 states and cost the federal government nearly $1 billion.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says the recent bird flu detections do not present an immediate public health concern. No human cases of these viruses have been detected in the U.S.