Following the discovery of a case of the highly virulent avian flu at a big egg farm, the state of Iowa declared on Tuesday that more than 4 million chickens would have to be put to death.
Following the discovery of the disease at a farm in Sioux County, Iowa, crews are currently slaughtering 4.2 million chickens.
This outbreak, which has been going on for years, is the latest to impact dairy cattle as well. Almost 1.4 million chickens were killed when the virus was identified at an egg farm west of Minneapolis, Minnesota, last week.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that since the outbreak started in 2022, 92.34 million birds have perished.
Although bird flu has grown quite widespread among poultry, concerns about the disease have increased as a result of its spread to cattle.
A second dairy farmworker was identified as having avian flu in May, and the virus was found in milk and beef. On dairy farms in nine states, it has been verified.
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According to agriculture and health professionals, there is still little risk to the general people.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, beef is still safe to eat and that the meat from a single unwell dairy cow was prohibited from entering the country’s food chain.
There is a greater risk for workers who come into contact with sick pets. There were two dairy workers and one man who worked on a poultry farm, but they were the only three verified cases of the disease in humans in the US.
