Present chicken flu outbreak, coming into second yr, has price U.S. greater than $660 million

A chicken flu outbreak that has raised costs of eggs, hen and turkey in shops throughout the U.S. has price the federal authorities roughly $661 million, the Division of Agriculture says.

Greater than 58 million birds have been slaughtered within the U.S. to restrict the unfold of the virus that causes chicken flu, as the continued outbreak enters its second yr. In accordance with one agricultural economist, poultry farmers may have already got misplaced greater than $1 billion.

“Like a lot of the remainder of the world, the US continues to expertise outbreaks of extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus in wild birds and poultry,” stated Dr. Tim Uyeki, head of the influenza division on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.

The present virus has been circulating amongst birds in several components of the world for a few years and it continues to evolve into totally different teams, known as clades.

The present clade of H5N1 “seems well-adapted to unfold effectively amongst wild birds and poultry in lots of areas of the world,” Uyeki stated.

Within the U.S., it has been detected in all 50 states and triggered outbreaks in additional than 300 industrial farms in 47 states.

“The previous yr has been devastating for the turkey trade as we expertise, unequivocally, the worst HPAI outbreak within the trade’s historical past,” Nationwide Turkey Federation spokeswoman Shelby Newman stated.

Not like in previous outbreaks, this model of the virus has discovered a option to adapt to the warmth of the summer time, which led to a rise in circumstances final fall.

The earlier chicken flu outbreak within the U.S., in 2015, wasn’t as widespread because the one which began final yr. Within the 2015 outbreak, round 50 million chickens and turkeys had been slaughtered on farms in 15 states.

Nevertheless, the 2015 outbreak stays the nation’s most costly animal well being catastrophe, costing the federal authorities practically $1 billion and the poultry trade roughly $3 billion.

Regardless of the harm to the financial system, well being officers say avian influenza doesn’t pose a risk to people.

Seven human circumstances related to poultry exposures throughout the present outbreak have been reported internationally since January 2022, together with one within the U.S.

In 4 of those circumstances, no respiratory signs had been reported. In three circumstances, extreme illness occurred, together with one demise.

Nevertheless, a “small variety of sporadic human infections with H5N1 virus doesn’t change the danger to most people, which CDC at the moment considers to be low,” Uyeki stated.

With Information Wire Companies