Bird Flu Now Spread to 13 States

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced more findings of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the U.S., this time in what it called a “non-commercial, non-poultry flock” in Maine.
 
The confirmation in the as-yet unidentified species makes Maine the 13^th state in which HPAI has been detected. It also has been found in commercial and backyard flocks in Indiana, Kentucky and Virginia, and in wild birds in Delaware, North Carolina, Georgia, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, and South Carolina.
 
On February 11, APHIS said it was expanding wild bird surveillance to include the Mississippi and Central Flyways, in addition to an already existing surveillance program in the Atlantic and Pacific Flyways.
 
The Centers for Disease Control says the recent detections “pose a low risk to the public.” Wild birds can carry HPAI A(H5) viruses without showing symptoms, but these viruses can cause illness and death in domestic poultry,” CDC said. Human infections with HPAI A(H5) bird flu viruses are rare but can occur, usually after close contact with infected birds.

EDITOR’S TAKE:

Recently we reported on the initial discovery of the “Bird Flu” in wild birds in the eastern U.S. and subsequently in a turkey flock in Indiana. Now there is a rapid spread in commercial flocks, not good news. Not good from a producer’s perspective or the consumer point of view. Producers will lose millions of dollars because flocks will have to be destroyed, and the clean-up will not only cause delays, but added expense. Consumers are already battling the highest inflation in the past four decades and now this could further add to their woes at the meat counter. We will keep you posted and informed of any further developments with the spread of this disease.