How does avian influenza spread?
A. Wild birds may have influenza viruses in their digestive tracts. The virus is shed in their wastes into water where the birds congregate and thereby spreads to other wild birds. It also can spread via waste matter from wild birds to domestic birds, such as chickens and ducks, through contaminated water or food. In domestic birds (poultry), certain types of avian influenza can be deadly. When these deadly strains of avian flu erupt in poultry flocks, animal health authorities may order that all the poultry in the area be surveyed, killed and buried or burned, to stop the chain of infection.
