Protective actions around birds
- As a general precaution, whenever possible people should avoid direct contact with wild birds and observe them only from a distance.
- Wild birds can be infected with avian (bird) influenza (flu) A viruses even if they don’t look sick.
- Avoid unprotected contact with domestic birds (poultry) that look sick or have died.
- Do not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with saliva, mucous or feces from wild or domestic birds.
The best prevention is to avoid sources of exposure
The best way to prevent avian (bird) influenza (flu) is to avoid sources of exposure whenever possible. Infected birds shed bird flu virus in their saliva, mucous and feces. People rarely get bird flu; however, human infections with bird flu viruses can happen when enough virus gets into a person’s eyes, nose or mouth, or is inhaled. This can happen when virus is in the air (in droplets or possibly dust) and a person breathes it in, or when a person touches something that has virus on it and then touches their mouth, eyes or nose. Bird flu infections in people happen most often after close, prolonged and unprotected (no gloves or other protective wear) contact with infected birds and then the person touches their mouth, eyes, or nose.
Entire content available on: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/prevention.htm?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fflu%2Favianflu%2Fprotective-actions.html
