USDA launches new biosecurity campaign

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is launching a new outreach campaign focused on preventing the spread of infectious poultry diseases in both commercial and backyard poultry.  Considering the devastating impact of the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in 2014-2015, as well as this year’s outbreak of virulent Newcastle disease, the timing is right for everyone in the poultry community to work together to protect the health of our nation’s flocks.  The “Defend the Flock” campaign to promote biosecurity combines and updates two previous campaigns that were each targeted at a specific segment of the poultry population.  Having experienced several poultry health issues over the last couple of years, the poultry community knows how important biosecurity is to protecting the nation’s flocks.  “We’ve seen great strides in biosecurity since 2015, but biosecurity is an every day, every time effort,” said Dr. Shere.  USDA launched a new web page for the campaign at www.aphis.usda.gov/animalhealth/defendtheflockwhere anyone can find important information about protecting their flocks from disease.