Bird flu forces egg farm to euthanize 3 million chickens

An outbreak of bird flu that has led to the deaths of 43 million chickens and turkeys this year across the U.S. has been found at a giant egg-laying operation in Ohio, state and federal agriculture officials said Wednesday.

The case confirmed over the weekend in Ohio's Defiance County has affected roughly 3 million chickens, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The egg-laying farm has started euthanizing all of its , said Dennis Summers, the state's veterinarian.

The highly pathogenic disease has returned to the Midwest earlier than authorities expected after a lull of several months with cases in Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin within the past week. There also have been several detections in western states over the summer.

The disease is typically carried by migrating waterfowl, such as geese and ducks, Summers said. It only occasionally affects humans, such as , and the USDA keeps poultry from infected flocks out of the .

The outbreak that earlier this year contributed to a spike in egg and meat prices appeared to be waning in June, but officials warned then that another surge could come back this fall.

© 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Citation: Bird flu forces egg farm to euthanize 3 million chickens (2022, September 7) retrieved 7 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2022-09-bird-flu-egg-farm-euthanize.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Deadly bird flu returns to Midwest earlier than expected

15 shares

Feedback to editors