Some 3 million birds, nearly all of them chickens and turkeys, have died in outbreaks of extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) for the reason that first affirmation of the illness in home flocks on February 8, stated a USDA company on Wednesday. The most recent outbreaks concerned 442,000 chickens and turkeys on farms in Delaware, Maryland, and Missouri.
The Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service stated the viral illness had been confirmed in a flock of 265,000 pullet chickens — younger hens that haven’t began laying eggs — on a farm in New Fort County in northern Delaware; a flock of 150,000 broiler chickens on a farm in Queen Anne’s County, throughout Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis on the Jap Shore of Maryland; and a flock of 27,000 turkeys on a farm in Jasper County in southwestern Missouri.
Delaware has been the hardest-hit state, shedding 1.4 million birds to HPAI or to culling supposed to stop the unfold of the contagious and deadly illness. HPAI can wipe out a flock rapidly, so agricultural officers are ruthless in eradicating contaminated flocks.
Greater than 50 million chickens and turkeys died in an HPAI epidemic that ran from December 2014 by way of June 2015, resulting in egg shortages and driving up costs. The outbreak additionally precipitated some international locations to ban imports of U.S. poultry meat. Some 16% of U.S. poultry meat is exported.
The USDA record of HPAI outbreaks is obtainable right here.
Supply: Successful Farming
