CHURUBUSCO, Ind. – The Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) said the public was never in danger after a truck carrying dead ducks from farms with confirmed cases of bird flu rolled into a ditch in northeast Indiana on March 20.

The Waste Management truck was carrying deceased ducks from various Maple Leaf Farms in northern Indiana when the incident occurred on U.S. 33 north of Churubusco, according to the Whitley County Emergency Management Agency (EMA). All the farms had ducks that tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

The ducks were being taken to a composting site at the time of the incident, Denise Derrer Spears, BOAH communication director, told Farm World. The ducks were transported in bio bags and one of the bags was breached, she said. The accident didn’t result in a spill of material, Spears added.

All the dead birds on the truck didn’t necessarily have HPAI, BOAH said. Per agency policy, all birds on a farm with confirmed cases of HPAI are destroyed.

“The public was never at risk,” Spears explained. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to classify the threat of HPAI to the public as minimal. Most of the documented cases in humans have been occupation exposure to workers on an affected farm.

“After a bird dies, the avian influenza virus particles tend to die off because they need a living host to survive.”

The dead ducks were being transported to an approved landfill for burial, she said.

“On-site composting is always our first choice for carcass disposal, whenever possible,” Spears noted. “In some cases, such as this, the barns cannot accommodate indoor composting (ideal) nor does the farmer have sufficient property to do on-site outdoor composting (BOAH’s second choice). In those cases, such as this, the birds were being moved off-site.”

When moving material and carcasses off-site, using bio bags is standard practice, she said. The bags provide an extra layer of protection from any materials – such as feathers – flying off the trucks or from fluid leaks. The truck was carrying thousands of birds at the time of the crash, Spears said.

BOAH and the Whitley County EMA were notified of the crash, and cleanup was the responsibility of Waste Management, she said.

Transport routes are approved by BOAH, Spears said, “factoring in where other poultry and dairy farms are located to minimize opportunity for possible exposure and to minimize transport through populated areas.”

Once HPAI is confirmed by testing at a farm in Indiana, the farm is quarantined and control and surveillance areas are established. Birds at the affected farms are destroyed.

“The method of depopulation varies, based on many factors such as type of birds (floor birds like ducks or turkeys versus hens in cages,” Spears said previously. “Also, the size of the operation and what resources are available. Once the birds are dead, again, the disposal method varies depending on the size of the operation, type of carcasses, facilities available, etc.”

After the birds are removed, the facilities need to be cleaned and disinfected, she said. Environmental samples are taken to ensure no virus is present before the barns can be restocked. The process takes several weeks, Spears said.