Bird Flu: What FSQA Professionals Need to Know

Editor’s note: With the nation on heightened alert over the spread of bird flu, QA asked one of our technical advisers, Chelle Harzter, 360 Pest and Food Safety Consulting, to provide background on this disease and how it might impact food safety and quality assurance professionals.

Bird flu has been around since at least 1996, and there are four different strains of it. It’s a highly contagious type of influenza that is carried by birds. It spreads through wild bird populations and then to captive birds and other animals. The virus is found in saliva, mucus and feces of infected birds and sometimes through other secretions. It is not airborne. 

The current strain, H5N1, typically does not impact people, but it does happen. People who are around birds can be contaminated, and there have been deaths recorded. For food safety and quality assurance professionals, here are some things to consider.

Some professionals are going to be working around chicken houses or poultry processing plants. For those that do, extreme PPE measures will be in place. When poultry in commercial farms is infected, the entire flock is typically culled due to the high risk of spreading the infection. This is a major reason behind the high egg prices right now. As of writing this, there have been 70 confirmed human cases of bird flu and one death. Just about all of these were people who worked in or near dairy herds and/or poultry farms. 

While birds are the group most affected by bird flu, testing has shown it in other animals as well. A report from the USDA shows a large number of mammals have tested positive for bird flu since 2024. Among the notable ones are black rats (roof rats), house mice, deer mice, domestic cats, cattle and pigs. It is unlikely that working around any of these animals will increase the risk of getting bird flu, but it’s important to take precautions. It’s good to know that only one person has ever caught bird flu from a cat.

Finally, we have those professionals who do bird control work. If you are doing clean-up work, follow CDC guidelines for cleaning bird droppings. Wear extra PPE if possible, such as eye protection, a respirator and coveralls. For those performing exclusion work, be aware of the birds around you and where significant amounts of droppings are. 

Bottom line: think about the last pandemic we went through. Wash your hands, wear a mask if going into high-risk accounts, use gloves and clean the bottom of your boots well. If you see a dead bird (or other animal), contact the appropriate state offices, and don’t touch it. If you have questions, reach out to a medical professional or the CDC, which has great information on its site. Protect yourself, your customers and your family; you are a protector of human (and animal) health.