“It makes me sick thinking about it,” said Anne Diemand Bucci, co-owner of Diemand Farm in Wendell, in north-central Massachusetts, where she has as many as 2,000 egg-laying hens. ”It would be devastating.”
As cases continue to rise nationally, the disease is suspected to have recently killed more than 60 geese, swans, and other birds in Plymouth, along with more wild bird deaths in Boston and on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
State health officials say the H5N1 strain of “highly pathogenic avian influenza” rarely infects humans. The strain has so far killed one person — announced earlier this month — and infected 66 people nationwide since 2024, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most people who have been infected had direct contact with infected birds or their indoor environments, state officials said, adding the strain poses a low public health risk.
That’s little consolation to Diemand-Bucci, who said she would likely have to lay off employees if her farm experienced an outbreak. She, along with other chicken farmers in Massachusetts, are stepping up precautions to avoid infections.
Her farm’s staff has placed trays filled with a bleach solution at all entrances to the chicken coop to keep workers’ boots clean, preventing the virus from being brought inside to the animals. Workers also spray the tires of all trucks entering the farm. And she has stopped allowing visitors to see the animals.
The virus thrives in cold, wet environments, making outbreaks more likely in the winter and in water birds such as geese and swans, said Andrew Vitz, the state ornithologist at MassWildlife, a state agency. The recent series of particularly frigid days also complicated officials’ efforts to collect deceased birds, said Vitz, with some stuck in frozen lakes or ponds.
The Animal and Plant Inspection Service confirmed the first case of H5N1 bird flu in the US in February 2022, and the country has seen upticks in cases each winter since, said Vitz.
“There’s more ice out there and less open water, and the birds are really congregating where there is open water in higher densities,” said Vitz. “So that could facilitate the spread of this virus.”
The bird flu is primarily spread through the feces from infected birds, said Vitz, and the virus tends to change over time, adding challenges of new symptoms. Researchers at the National Veterinary Services lab in Iowa are studying the suspected cases from Plymouth and Amherst to confirm they’re H5N1 and learn more about the current strain.
Experts expect cases to decrease once the spring brings warmer temperatures, said Vitz.
The Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester is also taking more preventative measures with its roughly 20 chickens. Usually, children in the farm’s nature-based preschool tend to the birds, but now the farm has suspended that practice. The farm is also educating its volunteers on infection-control protocols, said Tracy Kinsey, communications and outreach coordinator.
“It’s all about working together to keep everyone safe,” said Kinsey.
At the Natick Community Organic Farm, which has around 200 chickens, staff had already started taking precautions in advance of the recent news, due to the farm’s many public events and school programs.
“For us, it’s more of a rolling-with-the-punches-type thing,” said livestock manager Haley Goulet. “There’s no reason to panic until you have it. In my opinion, the best thing you can do is prepare and maintain cleanliness.”
In addition to boot washes and limiting public contact with the animals, the Natick farm is also keeping its chickens inside and is not introducing any new chickens to the flock except for day-old chicks that can be raised inside.
The security measures taken by farms around the state are based on guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture.
“The education piece around biosecurity is the best prevention against [the flu],” said Ashley Randle, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture. “Our animal health team works very closely, and our animal health inspectors, with flock owners to ensure that they’re putting these measures into place to mitigate against the risk.”
The virus is relatively new, and researchers are studying how the virus behaves and searching for potential treatments and vaccinations.
“We’re learning as we go,” said Dr. Jeremy Luban, a professor and virologist at UMass Chan Medical School.
Generally, humans who contract the bird flu get it from direct exposure to infected birds or livestock such as cows, said Luban.
The Department of Public Health advises to not touch sick or dead animals and to keep pets away from potentially infected wildlife. The department encourages the public to report instances of five or more sick or dead birds to local animal control officers or through the state’s website.
Existing anti-flu medications have shown effectiveness in treating the virus in humans when taken within a few days of exposure, said Luban.
While human cases of bird flu are rare and there is no evidence of person-to-person spread, said Luban, the danger for humans is a lack of immunity against the virus. Experimental vaccines have shown promise in animals, he said.
Farm staff like Goulet hope this research yields solutions to fight the virus.
“I would hope that in the future, it is something that we can vaccinate our chicks against before we even get them from the hatchery,” Goulet said. “So that it’s not something we have to worry about as they’re growing up.”
Maren Halpin can be reached at maren.halpin@globe.com.
