Massachusetts poultry farmers are taking extra precautions against bird flu after several cases were reported among wild and backyard birds in the state.
Officials suspect the virus lead to the deaths of birds in Plymouth, Boston and the UMass Amherst campus. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife said preliminary positive cases have also been reported at other locations.
Avian influenza, scientifically known as H5N1, mainly infects wild birds and can be hard to contain. The outbreak among wildlife at Billington Sea in Plymouth killed more than 60 Canada geese, swans and ducks . Authorities warned locals to stay away from the sick and dead birds, and to keep their backyard birds corralled for “the foreseeable future” to prevent further spread.
“Typically, what happens with the virus is wild birds are the carriers,” said Ashley Randle, commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. “And the way that it’s spread to domestic poultry is through their feces, whether it’s dropped into the water source or their feed source or in the backyard.”
While authorities are warning about spread between wild and domestic birds, they say the risk to humans is low. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state Department of Public Health are monitoring the virus and preparing in the event that changes. Those preparations include a stockpile of protective equipment, testing supplies and medications.
So far, there have been 67 confirmed human cases in the U.S. , including one death by an individual with underlying health conditions. No human cases of bird flu have been reported in Massachusetts.
Tips to stay safe
Avoid contact with sick or dying wild animals. Humans withh prolonged close contact with sick birds are at most risk of becoming infected.
Keep pets away from sick or dead wildlife. Cats can become seriously ill if they come into contact with an infected bird or cow, or are fed infected raw pet food or poultry.
Keep domestic birds contained.
Report sightings to local animal control or the Department of Agricultural Resources .
And while officials stress that the risk of contracting H5N1 is low from indirect exposure, they say it's generally good practice to wash your shoes if you walk through animal feces, like duck and goose poop, and then thoroughly wash your hands. Animal feces can carry a range of bacteria, parasites and viruses.
Still, the virus is affecting residents in other ways.
Vincent Frary and his wife, who own Copicut Farms in Dartmouth, say the virus is a “huge concern” for their business. The couple raise a variety of animals on their 67 acres, including 15,000 chickens who, at their peak, produce 90 dozen eggs each day.
“My wife and I were out patching a few holes in our laying hen coops because we have some sparrows that are pretty resilient, and they’ll get in any little, tiny holes that we leave open,” Frary said.
Randle said that’s one of the best ways for people to protect their birds: keeping them inside and not exposed to wildlife. She said the Department of Agricultural Resources has been working with the Department of Public Health and local authorities to get the message out.
Other preventive measures include sanitizing boots before and after entering a coop and limiting visitors to some of the larger operations.
Should Frary’s chickens become infected, he could potentially have the entire flock euthanized and lose the 180-day poultry growing season.
“Farmers, they’re resilient people. But this is a tough one. We just do the best we can,” he said. “If the worst-case scenario were to happen, I think it’s pretty devastating for our farm.”
For some farmers, this outbreak reminds them of the nationwide bird flu outbreak in 2022 . Nancy Hubbard, a lifelong, fifth-generation farmer at Hubbard’s Farm LLC in Princeton, stopped raising chickens because of that outbreak.
“When the flu came around for the first time, we decided it was best not to [because] cause we raised our own birds, our meat chickens as well,” Hubbard said. “If they ended up in a location for slaughter that had the flu, they would all have to be discarded … and we would have lost our entire flock.”
Bird flu affects consumers as well. Grocery stores have been hard-pressed to stock eggs on their shelves, and the cost has skyrocketed, with some stores selling eggs for nearly $9 a dozen.
Randle said that’s because many large commercial poultry operations have been impacted, which ultimately affects the production of eggs.
“That’s over 137 million birds that we’ve lost in our food supply. And that includes the eggs,” she said.
In 2024, after avian influenza infections were found in dairy cows in multiple states, some dairy farm workers also developed infections. As a result, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and the Department of Public Health have been collaborating to test milk from Massachusetts cattle dairy farms. They said there has been no evidence of any infected cows in Massachusetts.
