Am I putting my self & family at at risk for the bird flu virus by feeding wild birds???

Question

I LOVE feeding the wild birds in my yard and I have tons of bird feeders hanging in my yard and lots of diffrent species come and feed.I've started wondering since I'm inviting so many birds into my yard am I putting my self and family at risk from contracting the Bird Flu Virus??? I don't handle the birds at all but I do come in contact with the feeders when I take them own to clean them>
Please people this is a very serious question therefore please only answer with serious advice.Thanks so much in advance and God Bless.

Answer 1

Many people worry about the "bird flu pandemic" we were all warned about. Key facts that you should know:

Almost all birds carry the virus. Most do not get sick from it.
Birds that do get sick from it the most are domestic poultry.
People are at low risk, unless they come in contact with a sick bird.
"Although avian influenza A viruses usually do not infect humans, rare cases of human infection with avian influenza viruses have been reported since 1997. More recently, more than 200 confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses have been reported since 2004."
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/avian-flu-humans.htm

I don't know about you, but I think 200 people getting it in 3 years, worldwide, is not enough to make me worry.

For the best info on bird flu, see this site: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/facts.htm

More of a worry when feeding birds is the occassional outbreak of West Nile Virus. If you find dead birds that have no obvious cause of death (they were not caught by a cat, hit by a car, or the victim of smashing into a window, for example), you may have cause for concern. If you find any such birds, do not handle them. Check with your local, county and/or state health department to see if there has been an outbreak of West Nile in your area. If so, the health department will tell you what to do.

Check out this site for more info: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/westnilevirus.html

Answer 2

I'm amazed at these answers. What happened to the simple joy of feeding some wild birds in your garden? Something people have been doing for years and never a worry about doing so. Every where I have lived, this has been a hobby and no-one has ever got sick. If you handled the birds directly, then with the "bird flu" virus around, you might be endangering yourself......

Answer 3

Not sure if you saw it on the news a few weeks back but it was recommended by the autobon society that bird feeders be taken down due to the risk of spreading salmonella in the feces of all the birds visiting feeders. If you still want to keep the feeders up though, make sure you use gloves and clean them regularly and when you clean the feeders also hose the ground below to wash away the feces that they left behind.

Answer 4

NO you are not
I dont believe you have bird flu in the usa. I may be mistaken. the cases where have contracted bird flu have been where the people live with theor animals and haven't practised hygeine accordingly or worked with infected chickens etc there by touching or coming into contact with faeces and not washing hands etc then maybe eating themselves and ingesting the virus form poor hygiene conditions so id say you were safe from Bird flu the press and media hype is so much more than it should ever have been shame in the world press for vastly over inflating the topic and creating panic worldwide whereby thousands of loved family pets ended up being dumped by their owners in panic/
SO go ahead enjoy your wild birds unless you eat the poop you have nothing to fear and Agian you only get infected if you eat infected poop ll and i dont believe you have any infectred birds there.

Answer 5

That's good that you are feeding them, but read this. If you are sick and are going to put food in the feeder wash your hands before touching it and then when you come back inside wash your hands again to kill all the germs that you may have come in contact with. if you do that then everything will be ok because there are 3 types of flu's. the first one is only for humans, the second one if for both humans and animals so if you get sick and have that one you can make the birds sick to by changing their food. the last one is only for animals so you don't have to worry. and remember just wash your hands when you go to change the food and when you are done. I hope i helped.

Answer 6

I don't think so I've been feeding wild birds for a long time and no one in my family has gotten sick, I have a bird feeder for the seeds and i've got a humming bird feeder as well

Answer 7

The only slight risk is in the bird droppings. Simply wear gloves when cleaning the feeder and you'll be fine (which you should do regardless of the flu or not).

Answer 8

I'm not entirally sure but I don't think so.My family and I also have alot of bird feeders and bird baths and things like that and we've had them for years and we're fine.But really I'm not an expert on this so you should probably talk to someone or look furthur up on it on the internet.

Answer 9

It is fine to feed the wild birds. The only thing I have seen requested by the authorities is for any dead wild bird to be wrapped up and taken to the Health Department (I think it is the HD) so they can check it for the avian virus. Please do wear gloves and practice good handwashing during this procedure.

Answer 10

I have many bird feeders in our backyard, as long as you are not handling the birds there shouldn't be any risk.