The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in five other US states after authorities warned that recent outbreaks could result in Americans paying more for poultry.
The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said in a March 30 news release that the cases were confirmed at a commercial poultry farm in Johnston County, North Carolina, and at poultry for home consumption in Berkshire County, Massachusetts; Kidder County, North Dakota; Franklin County, Ohio; and Johnson County, Wyoming.
Also known as “bird flu,” HPAI is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects birds, although it has also been found in other animals such as pigs and dogs in China, Indonesia and Vietnam, and in domestic cats in Germany. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It spreads easily between birds through nasal and eye secretions and manure and can be fatal in domestic poultry.
APHIS said it is “working closely with state animal health agencies” to find a common response.
Meanwhile, affected areas have been quarantined and private chicken coops have been depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from infected poultry houses will not enter the food system, officials said.
These latest cases came just days after the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) announced on March 22 that a commercial flock of 570,000 broilers in Butler County would be euthanized after the flock was found to have bird flu.
Broilers are bred specifically for meat production.
The NDA said the birds would be “humanely euthanized and disposed of in an approved manner” and the farm was also immediately quarantined.
The virus was originally discovered in Nebraska in a Lincoln, Lancaster County wild goose on March 7, before additional cases were confirmed in Merrick, Cedar and Douglas counties, according to an earlier press release from the NDA.
Federal and state officials are monitoring and testing the areas around the locations where the outbreaks have occurred.
There have also been multiple outbreaks among commercial chicken and turkey herds in Iowa, two of which were announced by state agriculture officials on March 29.
Overall, the outbreaks have occurred in 17 states and have caused the US poultry industry to kill more than 15.6 million chickens and 1.3 million turkeys since January 1, 2022.
“The United States has the strongest AI surveillance program in the world, and the USDA is working with partners to actively screen for the disease in commercial poultry farms, in live bird markets, and in wild bird populations,” the USDA said.
The USDA has announced that food prices — including chickens and eggs — will rise an average of 5% in 2022, partly due to the outbreak of bird flu and historically low stocks of frozen chickens in the US in recent months.
Outbreaks of avian influenza could “contribute to higher poultry and egg prices through reduced supply or lower prices through reduced international demand for poultry products or poultry eggs.” United States, the USDA said.
Although the Asian avian influenza virus has caused a high number of deaths in poultry and wild birds across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa since 2003, the risk of contracting the virus in humans remains low and no cases of avian influenza infection have been reported reported among people in the United States.
With information from The Associated Press.
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