In Bashkiria, measures to prevent bird flu are being strengthened

Soon the geese will be actively rushing, and closer to the middle of March, the migration of migratory birds will begin. By this time, domestic birds should develop stable immunity. Livestock vaccinated against highly pathogenic avian influenza in the fall are bled for the presence of antibodies.

“If our titer is below 1.125, revaccination will be needed. If there are more than a thousand birds in a given house, we will test 25 samples.” – Rozalia Kalmetyeva, veterinarian.

The poultry farm in the village of Starokucherbaevo, Blagovarsky district, is engaged in the sale of hatching eggs and young animals. This is the only agricultural enterprise in the country that contains such a variety of geese breeds. The total number of birds is approaching 10 thousand. Absolutely all livestock are vaccinated against bird flu. The HEAD of the farm, who is also an agricultural DOCTOR, knows firsthand how dangerous the H5N1 virus can be.

“The virus is actually very dangerous, if it occurs in an acute form, then the incubation period lasts literally 2-4 days, the lethality reaches 100 percent.” – Albert Farrakhov, head of the poultry farm.

If even a single case of bird flu is found, the livestock is destroyed not only from the producer, but also from the population within a radius of 5 kilometers from the source of infection. Therefore, employees of regional veterinary stations conduct preventive conversations with villagers and vaccinate poultry, which is kept in private farms.

“We watch on TV what people get sick, die, pass on to each other. It’s a pity that birds are so easy to kill, that’s why we are vaccinating against bird flu.” - Radik Birdin, a resident of the village. Starokucherbaevo.

“We have a painstaking daily work. A recommendation is being made to the private sector that they keep their birds - a closed type of livestock, so that there is no contact with synanthropic birds, that is, migratory ones, because they are the main carriers. - Ilgiz Akhtyamov, head of the anti-epizootic detachment of the Blagovarsky regional veterinary station.

Measures to prevent the introduction and spread of avian influenza in Bashkortostan were taken after 2021, when a total of five foci of a highly pathogenic disease were registered on the territory of the Blagovarsky and Tuymazinsky districts. The Department of Veterinary Medicine of the Republic applied to the Ministry of Agriculture of the country with a request to include the region in the list of entities in whose territory vaccination against the H5N1 virus is carried out. As a result, since last year in Bashkortostan, birds - primarily waterfowl - have been actively vaccinated. 

We vaccinated, first of all, especially threatened territories, especially threatened farms, where there is a risk of this disease. These are those areas where there is a large concentration of water bodies, these are farms that keep poultry in an open way - not like closed-type poultry farms, but out-of-doors. Mostly ducks and geese.

Ruslan Baikeev, Head of Department of the Veterinary Administration of the Republic of Bashkortostan
Today, according to the data of the Republican Veterinary Administration, almost 90 percent of the vaccinated livestock have developed strong immunity to the disease. A high titer of antibodies was also found in blood tests taken today at a poultry farm in the village of Starokucherbaevo.