About 1.2 million chickens in Taylor County, Iowa will be slaughtered to prevent the spread of bird flu after the virus was detected at a commercial egg-laying facility, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship reported on Nov. 10.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza also infected a backyard flock in Iowa’s Jones County, with 23 mixed-species birds, the state agency said.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) issued a disaster proclamation for Taylor County, enabling state and federal agencies to help track, monitor, and contain the disease.
The most recent detections were at a Kossuth County game bird hatchery with about 13,000 pheasants, quail, and chukars and a mixed-species backyard flock in Cerro Gordo County with about 75 birds, the state agency confirmed on Nov. 11.
The four recent cases mark a total of 13 infected flocks in Iowa. The bird flu outbreak began early last year. Nearly 63 million birds have been destroyed to contain the disease’s spread.
This past week, one million chickens were killed on a Minnesota egg farm. But the vast majority of the cases, involving nearly 58 million birds, occurred last year.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the recent detections of bird flu “do not present a public health concern, and it remains safe to eat poultry products.” Cooking poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (73.89 degrees Celsius) kills bacteria and viruses.
Iowa remains the hardest-hit state in the nation, with more than 17 million birds lost since the outbreak began. The state is the nation’s leading egg producer, and egg farms tend to have the most birds.
Nebraska is next with more than 6.7 million birds killed, followed by Colorado’s 6.26 million and Minnesota’s 5.6 million.
Most of the recent cases this fall have been found in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa, along one of the major migratory paths that ducks and geese follow as they fly south for winter.
Poultry and egg farmers try to keep the virus from reaching their farms by requiring workers to shower and change clothes before they enter barns.
Trucks are also sanitized before they enter the farms, and separate sets of tools are kept for each barn.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
Bird flu, officially known as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), is a contagious, viral disease affecting bird populations. It often travels in wild birds’ droppings or nasal discharges and is fatal to domestic poultry.Although wild birds often show no symptoms of avian influenza, infections in them are a concern to the poultry industry as migration season gets underway. Migrating birds can spread the disease to vulnerable commercial flocks.
Symptoms in birds include sudden death, lethargy, lack of appetite, decreased egg production, swelling, difficulty breathing, coughing, sneezing, diarrhea, and stumbling or falling over.
Because the virus is so infectious and deadly for commercial poultry, entire flocks are destroyed and composted on the farms when they are infected.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
