Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu Detected In Five More US States

An outbreak of the deadly strain of bird flu is quickly spreading across the U.S. The risk to humans is low, but bird flu could wreak havoc in the nation’s poultry industry ahead of Easter.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on Wednesday that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was detected in five new states.

• A non-commercial, mixed-species backyard flock (non-poultry) in Berkshire County, Massachusetts;
• A non-commercial, mixed-species backyard flock (non-poultry) in Johnson County, Wyoming;
• A commercial poultry flock in Johnston County, North Carolina;
• A non-commercial, backyard chicken flock (non-poultry) in Franklin County, Ohio;
• And a backyard chicken flock (poultry) in Kidder County, North Dakota.

According to Bloomberg, USDA data shows the bird flu has been found in 23 states in flocks totaling about 17 million birds up and down Mid-Atlantic and Northeast and across the Midwest.

On Mar. 21, the official figure for culled chickens and turkeys stood around 12 million. Infected flocks have been culled to mitigate spreading, and USDA has implemented an A.I. surveillance program to look for the disease in commercial poultry operations.

Since the HPAI spread is recent, there’s no telling when it will abate. The last outbreak, in 2015, resulted in the culling of 50 million laying hens across 15 states, pushing the prices of chicken and eggs higher. – READ MORE