Bird flu hits 3 million more chickens in Iowa

Bird flu hits 3 million more chickens in Iowa

Preventative killing of another 2.8 million chickens may happen in just one facility

Four days after Iowa Governor Terry Branstad declared a state of emergency against avian bird flu, more poultry facilities have reported evidence of the outbreak. At least 2.8 million chickens in a single egg production farm in Wright County are now believed to have the disease while three additional turkey farms have also been affected.

The plague began earlier this year, when  19 million chickens in Iowas perished, killed by humans as a preventative. Activists and those in the chicken industry oppose such a massive extermination, saying it is not necessary to keep the H5N2 virus from spreading faster.

Even as various preventive measures are carried out across North America, the disease nevertheless continues to show in new localities. Scientists with Iowa’s Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and others throughout the United States and Canada actually do not understand how the disease is transmitted. Their speculation is that the epidemic may be distributed through any combination of other birds, feathers, rodents, or dust.

For humans, poultry workers who have been exposed to the disease are considered at high risk of contractions, although it is believed it does not transmit between humans. A vaccine from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be given to at least 300 people at risk because of direct contact with affected chickens.

However, CDC says that only about half of the workers who have already been given the antiviral have not taken it. Reportedly, some either believe the vaccine is against their religion or simply have an idea their risk of contracting the disease is minimal.

Beyond any moral issues related to the massive slaughter, as well as the commercial losses, the biggest concern is that the virus could spread outside factory farming and infect wild birds. Such an event would be considered catastrophic.

 

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