Alveo Technologies and AgriNerds have launched an avian flu early warning approach that pairs wild bird risk forecasts with rapid on-farm diagnostics to help poultry farms identify and contain potential outbreaks sooner.
The collaboration links AgriNerds’ Waterfowl Alert Network, which draws on radar, satellite imagery, telemetry, and other data to identify hotspots for spillover from wild birds, with Alveo’s portable molecular platform that can detect avian influenza in about 45 minutes. Executives said the goal is to bridge the gap between constant surveillance, which is impractical, and waiting for birds to show clinical signs followed by a two to three day turnaround for PCR lab results.
Under the model, farms could escalate testing when AgriNerds’ system signals heightened risk, such as spikes in migratory activity. According to Alveo president Erik Tyrrell-Knott, results from Alveo’s tests, which are available in several countries and are seeking U.S. approval this year, can be fed back into AgriNerds’ analytics to refine future predictions. He said the combined tools offer data-driven guidance that is largely absent from current surveillance practices.
Dynamic avian flu early warning and surveillance
AgriNerds’ platform grades risk as low, moderate, or high for individual facilities by forecasting waterfowl abundance near commercial operations. Founder Maurice Pitesky, an associate professor at the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, said farm-level risk can shift significantly year to year with changes in weather, crops, water availability, and habitat. Wild birds seek food and water, he noted, and conditions that create or remove those attractants can shift risk locally.
The network now produces daily predictions nationwide relative to more than 160,000 commercial poultry facilities, according to Pitesky, who said over 1,500 farms across 25 states use AgriNerds’ data. Users can set alerts for the highest-risk days so veterinarians or managers receive immediate notifications.
Grading risk for dynamic surveillance
AgriNerds’ platform grades risk as low, moderate, or high for individual facilities by forecasting waterfowl abundance near commercial operations. Founder Maurice Pitesky, an associate professor at the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, said farm-level risk can shift significantly year to year with changes in weather, crops, water availability, and habitat. Wild birds seek food and water, he noted, and conditions that create or remove those attractants can shift risk locally.
The network now produces daily predictions nationwide relative to more than 160,000 commercial poultry facilities, according to Pitesky, who said over 1,500 farms across 25 states use AgriNerds’ data. Users can set alerts for the highest-risk days so veterinarians or managers receive immediate notifications.
What does earlier detection actually change?
Tyrrell-Knott said earlier detection can inform decisions to limit movements of employees and trucks for feed or waste and to adjust ventilation in order to reduce the chance of farm-to-farm spread, even if infected flocks ultimately must be culled. He said roughly 30% of transmission occurs between farms via people, vehicles, equipment, or airborne material.
Pitesky added that geotagged on-farm results from Alveo could help the risk model move beyond county-level reporting. Incorporating wind and other environmental data could enable warnings for facilities downwind of a positive result. Over time, faster detection and more granular intelligence might help confine infection to a single barn in large complexes, potentially reducing the number of birds that must be culled, Tyrrell-Knott said.
Testing asymptomatic flocks
Alveo’s device uses molecular amplification rather than lateral-flow strips, which Tyrrell-Knott said can miss infections at a relatively high rate. He said the platform applies laboratory-grade amplification methods in a rugged, phone-sized device designed for field use.
According to the company, the assay distinguishes H5 and H7 avian influenza subtypes with approximately 96% to 99% accuracy, approaching the performance of PCR tests that typically take two to three days for results. In the United States, the evaluation protocol uses oropharyngeal swabs. Outside the U.S., cloacal swabs are also used.
Building an early-warning network
Pitesky said the broader aim is to push disease management upstream by aligning testing with periods of elevated external risk, enabling a proactive approach rather than reacting after outbreaks are established. Tyrrell-Knott said the test has experimental-use authorization from the USDA and state veterinarians, and the firm is targeting fourth-quarter approval as the first on-farm molecular bird flu test in the United States.
The network now produces daily predictions nationwide relative to more than 160,000 commercial poultry facilities, according to Pitesky, who said over 1,500 farms across 25 states use AgriNerds’ data. Users can set alerts for the highest-risk days so veterinarians or managers receive immediate notifications, a level of operational insight that could also influence decisions in other livestock markets as seen when the USDA Cattle on Feed report signals firmer cattle market.