The most up-to-date state to have its poultry operations affected by avian influenza: Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture, together with the United States Department of Agriculture, confirmed on Friday, January 17, a optimistic case of avian influenza – extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) – at a industrial poultry operation situated in Georgia County. Elbert, Georgia.
Although it’s the fifth case of hen flu detected within the state, it’s the first confirmed case in one of many state’s industrial poultry operations. the department said.
Officials have issued a quarantine for all industrial poultry operations inside a 6.2-mile radius, and surveillance testing will likely be performed for at the least two weeks. All poultry exhibitions, exhibits, exchanges, conferences and gross sales within the state are suspended till additional discover, the division mentioned.
That doesn’t suggest retail gross sales of poultry, meat and eggs cannot proceed, state officers mentioned.
“This is a severe menace to Georgia’s primary trade and the livelihoods of 1000’s of Georgians who make a dwelling in our state’s poultry trade,” Tyler Harper, state well being commissioner, mentioned in an announcement. agriculture. “We are working across the clock to mitigate any additional unfold of the illness and be certain that regular poultry operations in Georgia can resume as shortly as attainable.”
Georgia produces extra chickens than any U.S. state, with 1.3 billion chickens produced in 2022, in line with Georgia. World population reviewprimarily based on USDA statistics. As of 2022, the trade employed greater than 88,000 folks and generated an general annual financial impression for the state of greater than $28 billion, according to the USDA.
The affected operation — situated in jap Georgia, northeast of Atlanta and northwest of Augusta — had about 45,000 broiler farmers on the time of the invention, officers mentioned.
The producer observed indicators of hen flu within the flock on Jan. 15, and assessments taken the following day had been confirmed as optimistic, officers mentioned. State Department of Agriculture emergency administration and response groups arrived “to conduct depopulation, cleanup, disinfection and disposal operations on Friday, January 17, 2025,” officers mentioned.
Chickens in cages on a farm in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 22, 2023.
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Bird flu: what to know now
Bird flu has unfold all over the world since 1997, however till latest years it had remained largely confined to wild birds. The present pressure of avian influenza, H5N1, has since emerged in 2020 in Europe been declared the most important avian influenza epidemic ever seen on that continent and has unfold to Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
The avian influenza pressure appeared within the United States in late 2021. As of April 2024, a complete of 61 human circumstances of H5 avian influenza have been reported within the United States, in line with the report Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Earlier this month, the primary particular person within the United States to die from avian influenza was reported on January 6 by the Louisiana Department of Public Health. The affected person was over the age of 65 and reported having pre-existing medical circumstances.
In December, considerations about avian influenza led to the recall of a line of cat meals from Northwest Naturals after well being officers linked the dying of a cat to a batch of feed contaminated with avian influenza. The USDA has additionally begun testing milk nationwide to deal with avian influenza outbreaks on dairy farms.
The unfold of avian influenza amongst poultry farms within the United States is rising also causing an increase in egg prices. As of January 6, the virus had affected greater than 138 million poultry in 50 U.S. states by January 2022, in line with the CDC.
An indication displayed at WinCo Foods in Ventura, California, on December 29, 2024, explains why avian flu has elevated egg costs.
What are the signs of hen flu?
The present public well being threat to most of the people stays low, however individuals who work with birds, poultry or cows, or who’ve leisure publicity to them, are at increased threat. To keep away from publicity to avian influenza, keep away from direct contact with wild birds and different probably contaminated animals.
Mild signs of H5N1 avian influenza an infection – skilled by most contaminated folks – might embody redness of the eyes, fever, cough, muscle aches, fatigue, sore throat, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, stuffy or runny nostril, and shortness of breath, says the CDC.
Symptoms of average to extreme avian flu infections might also embody excessive fever, shortness of breath or problem respiration, altered consciousness and seizures, the CDC says. Complications of avian influenza might embody, however will not be restricted to, pneumonia, respiratory failure, a number of organ failure, sepsis, and irritation of the mind (meningoencephalitis).
Avian flu replace: The maps show the most affected states
Other states with hen flu: Maryland and Massachusetts
According to the CDC, each state within the United States has reported at the least one avian influenza outbreak. In addition to Georgia, Maryland and Massachusetts have reported latest circumstances.
On Monday, the Maryland Department of Agriculture reported a “presumptive optimistic case” of Avian flu at a commercial broiler farm in Dorchester County. This occurs days later Maryland officials Cases of avian influenza have additionally been reported at industrial poultry operations in Caroline County and Queen Anne County, in addition to Dorchester County inside the state’s jap seaboard.
Bird flu might have killed greater than 60 geese, swans and geese present in a pond in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in line with state officers, who mentioned they had been testing the useless birds to substantiate whether or not hen flu was current.
Contributors: Fernando Cervantes Jr., Eduardo Cuevas, Michael Loria, Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY’s Dinah Voyles Pulver and Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY Network’s Keith Demko.
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This article initially appeared on USA TODAY: Bird flu: first case detected in a poultry farm in Georgia
