After the virus was detected on an Iowa egg farm in the second big incidence this week, an extra 1.2 million birds will be destroyed to prevent the spread of bird flu.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship revealed the newest bird flu diagnosis Friday at a farm in Taylor County, and Iowa’s governor declared a disaster there immediately to ensure the state had the resources to respond fast.
The Iowa occurrence is only the latest in an epidemic that began early last year and has resulted in the deaths of roughly 63 million birds. A million hens were slaughtered earlier this week on a Minnesota egg farm. However, the great majority of instances (almost 58 million birds) happened last year.
When a case of bird flu is discovered, the entire flock is slaughtered to prevent the extremely infectious infection from spreading to another farm.
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The United States Department of Agriculture has discovered fewer wild birds harboring the virus this year, suggesting that some ducks and geese may be gaining immunity. Farmers have also worked hard to keep the virus off their crops, and the government has tried to respond fast whenever bird flu is discovered.
Iowa has been the worst devastated state in the country, killing around 17 million birds since the outbreak began. The state is the biggest egg producer in the country, and egg farms have the most birds. Last year, on a single Iowa egg farm, 5 million birds were murdered.
Nebraska is second with almost 6.7 million birds killed, followed by Colorado with 6.26 million and Minnesota with 5.6 million.
The majority of recent instances have been discovered in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa, along one of the key migratory tracks that ducks and geese use as they travel south for the winter. The virus is easily disseminated by the droppings of wild birds that may be followed into farms, and a predicted increase in cases has occurred since the autumn migration began.
Poultry and egg growers try to prevent the virus from spreading by forcing workers to shower and change their clothes before entering barns. Trucks are also sterilized before entering the property, and each barn has its own set of tools.
Last year’s losses pushed up egg and poultry costs, but those prices have reduced dramatically this year.
Bird flu is not considered a concern to food safety since regulators shoot all birds on farms where the disease is identified before they enter the food chain, and properly boiling chicken and eggs to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (73.89 degrees Celsius) kills any viruses. Infections in humans are uncommon and typically occur exclusively in persons who have been exposed to ill birds for an extended period of time.
