Hello Everyone,
We have an important update to our Bird Flu Protocol. Below is the email that was sent to all staff from Alayna our Sanctuary Director.
Hi Pasado's Team,
I wanted to share an important update regarding our HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) protocols. Moving forward, we will be discontinuing two practices: spraying car tires at the front gate and using scrub buckets outside of bird areas. Instead, we'll be transitioning to using disposable boot covers when entering any bird area.
A little background:
When HPAI first became a concern in 2022/2023, we took extensive precautions.
All of our birds were housed indoors, we wore full PPE, and began spraying car
tires at the front gate. As outbreaks decreased, we scaled back to shoe scrubs
outside of bird areas and allowed the birds back outdoors.
What's changing and why:
After consulting with our avian veterinary team last week, we learned that:
- Spraying car tires at the gate is unnecessary since vehicles do not enter bird areas. (We will still spray down Kubotas or other equipment that does enter.)
- Scrub buckets and brushes outside of bird areas are not the most effective way to reduce risk.
Our new protocol:
To better protect our birds, we will now use shoe covers when entering any bird
area. This will be our primary HPAI protection measure.
We will still keep scrub buckets around the sanctuary for general shoe cleaning, and we encourage all volunteers to use them before and after shifts. However, please note that shoe scrubbing will no longer serve as the main line of defense against HPAI-that role belongs to the shoe covers.
Thank you all for helping us keep the sanctuary safe and our birds healthy!
So no more spraying your tires or scrubbing shoes when you enter the front gate. If anyone has any questions about this please shoot me an email as Jen is out for the week on vacation.
Have a great day!
Shane Greenfield
Volunteer Coordinator
shaneg@pasadosafehaven.org
