An outbreak of the virus has affected 5.3 million chickens at an Iowa farm, and officials in Wisconsin have called a state of emergency. Humans are not at risk from the disease.
Bethany Hahn / AP
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday confirmed 5.3 million birds in Iowa were affected by an avian influenza outbreak.
The latest cases came after about 2 million birds were affected by an outbreak in Minnesota, according to local officials. In Wisconsin, where tens of thousands of birds were also exposed to the virus, the governor called a state of emergency to assist farmers in their response. Thousands of birds were also affected by an outbreak in South Dakota.
Birds in the affected flocks will be euthanized to keep the disease from becoming established in U.S. poultry populations, according to the USDA. Equipment and facilities will also be disinfected, after which officials will test to confirm the virus has been eliminated.
No cases of the disease have been found in people, and health officials said the risk of humans transmission is very low.
"CDC considers the risk to people from these HPAI H5 infections in wild birds, backyard flocks, and commercial poultry, to be low," the USDA said in an announcement.
The birds in the affected populations will not become part of the food stream, the USDA added.
SOURCE: BuzzFeed
No comments:
Post a Comment