STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A highly pathogenic avian influenza that has ravaged flocks throughout the United States was found in Pennsylvania and Utah, federal officials said, further widening the extent of the deadly outbreak.
A commercial flock of egg-laying chickens in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and a backyard flock of chickens in Utah County, Utah were the latest poultry to be quarantined and depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in a release.
As per protocol, the chickens will not enter the food system, the USDA said.
Millions of chickens have been destroyed since early February due to the bird flu, and the mounting numbers come as poultry prices are already undergoing price hikes due to inflation, said reports.
A bird flu outbreak in 2015 caused nearly 50 million chickens and turkeys to either die or be killed to prevent the spread of the virus. That outbreak caused soaring egg prices, the Advance/SILive.com reported, severely disrupted the marketplace until it dissipated the following year.
Three dead bald eagles in Georgia recently tested positive for the virus, officials said, joining other eagles throughout the country reportedly killed by the influenza, known as H5N1.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the recent infections pose “a low risk to the public.”
However, the agency notes that outbreaks in these flocks could expose some who regularly come into contact with the animals, heightening their risk of exposure. Human cases of bird flu viruses are rare but can still occur, most often after close contact with infected birds, which do not necessarily show symptoms.
In mid-January, the USDA said dozens of wild birds along the East Coast tested positive for bird flu, raising the prospect that the wild animals are primary vectors for the outbreak.
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Bird flu continues spread in Pennsylvania, Utah - SILive.com
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