Avian influenza has become a growing concern for poultry producers on the Eastern Shore of Maryland as recent cases have been identified in Wicomico and Caroline counties along with cases in Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware. A USDA-NIFA grant-funded project at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore aims to improve biosecurity preparedness among beginning and small-scale mixed species producers.
The project will focus on farms that raise poultry, sheep and goats together, operations that may be at increased risk of exposure to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A.
“H5N1 is an emerging cross-species strain capable of infecting other livestock apart from poultry. The project will highlight the importance of strengthening on-farm biosecurity practices to reduce potential disease transmission between poultry and small ruminants,” said Dr. David Brown (at left), UMES Extension’s lead on the project.
Brown was awarded a competitive $75,000 Extension Risk Management Education grant to conduct a series of educational workshops and individualized on-farm risk assessments. The goal, he said, is to help this targeted group of producers identify biosecurity gaps and implement practical mitigation strategies.
Participating famers, Brown said, will receive specialized biosecurity toolkits to support long-term risk management and disease prevention.
Brown is an assistant professor of animal science specializing in small ruminant health, nutraceutical forages and parasite management.
Follow www.umes.edu/extension/events for upcoming workshops (below), or email dbrown7@umes.edu for more information.
April 23- Multi-Species Grazing and Soil Health Workshop
June-27- Biosecurity Workshop: Protecting Sheep, Goats and Poultry
This work is supported by the Northeast Extension Risk Management project award no. 2025-70027-45395, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, gcstephens@umes.edu., 410-621-3850.
Photo by Todd Dudek, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, tdudek@umes.edu.
