Avian Flu Kills Record 50.54M Birds in US
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, avian influenza has claimed the lives of 50.54 million birds in the United States so far this year. This makes it the deadliest outbreak in American history.
Many times, whole flocks must be killed if a bird is infected.
Seeking Alpha, an investor website reports that these flocks often exceed one million eggs-laying birds at different industrial chicken farms.
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The rising costs of food has been exacerbated by the outbreak and the soaring inflation.
Turkey farmers claimed that avian flu or bird flu had caused a significant hit to their industry during the weeks and months leading up the Thanksgiving holiday. This is because demand tends to soar.
Idaho farmers said that they don’t think there will be enough turkeys this year to meet the demand.
WWNYTV reported that about half of the turkeys at farms were affected by bird flu.
Cabalo Orchards and Gardens’ Cathy Cabalo said that 600 birds were the normal start to the year. The bird flu had infected the area, and they hadn’t even left the rooting shed.
After an outbreak, workers had to quarantine the birds for six to eight more weeks.
“We kept them inside with 600 turkeys and the bread and butter until the season. Cabalo stated that they didn’t dare to let them out.
Cabalo stated that it is their natural instinct to snuggle very close and create a pile. If they are too small, they will choke. “Almost half of our birds died due to a pile incident in the barn. They couldn’t get outside.
Thomas Bennett, a Michigan resident from Bennett Farms, said that the bird flu spread in spring and caused a shortage later in the year.
“If I had 300 more turkeys right now, I would be able to sell them.” Bennett said, “I don’t have them.” Bennett said, “I joke with customers because they’ll email me, ‘Do you have any turkeys hidden somewhere?’ It’s like, no, I don’t even know if it’s a turkey.
Federal and state officials expressed hope that the problem wouldn’t become as widespread as during the 2015 outbreak, which killed approximately 50 million turkeys and chickens and drove prices up. On Thursday, the USDA released new data that shows that bird deaths are just below 2015’s outbreak death count.
