Latest bird flu outbreak poses ‘huge undertaking’

The 3.8 million laying hens sentenced to death in northwest Iowa by the highly pathogenic avian flu constitutes the largest single loss in the current outbreak, a federal agriculture official said Tuesday.

'Finding a way to efficiently dispose of the birds in a biosecure manner will be a huge undertaking that will cost a lot of money,” Dr. John Clifford, chief veterinary officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said during a conference call with reporters.

Earlier reports Monday, when state officials confirmed the outbreak in Osceola County, that 5.3 million hens would need to be euthanized referred to the facility's capacity, rather than the actual number of hens on site, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said Tuesday.

Officials quarantined the facility and birds on the property will be killed and disposed of to prevent spread of the disease to other facilities.

The birds are typically suffocated with foam or carbon dioxide, and their carcasses are composted, the officials said.

Iowa recorded its first case of bird flu last week when the disease was found on a turkey farm in Buena Vista County. That facility's 27,000 turkeys have since been euthanized. Monday marked the state's second confirmed incident.

Since March, the virus has doomed 7.8 million turkeys and chickens in eight Midwest states.

Clifford said the virus prefers cooler temperatures and he expects to see the disease abate with warmer summer weather. Clifford said he then expects the disease, which is transmitted primarily by wild waterfowl, to flare up again with the migrations next fall and during the following spring.

The disease has struck just two egg producers - the one in Osceola County and another in Wisconsin. Most of the other casualties have been at commercial turkey farms, with 28 such cases recorded in hard-hit Minnesota.

Iowa, with nearly 60 million laying hens, leads the nation in egg production, according to Randy Olson, executive director of the Iowa Poultry Association.

Olson and Northey said they do not expect the loss of hens to greatly affect the price of eggs.

'We anticipate that other producers will step up and meet demand,” Olson said.

Northey said some international markets have restricted poultry from the United States and specific areas affected by the disease.

The disease does not present any food safety or human health concerns, Olson said.

No human infection with the virus has ever been detected, and the risk to people is considered low by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Northey said the USDA has an indemnity program that pays part of the cost of cleaning and disinfecting diseased sites.

'There will be significant losses for affected farmers at the end of the day,” he said.

In Wisconsin, where three flocks have been infected in the past week, Gov. Scott Walker has declared a state of emergency and authorized the National Guard to help contain the disease.

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