More than 64,000 turkeys at a Merced County poultry farm are being culled after farm officers not too long ago found they had been contaminated with the extremely pathogenic avian influenza virus.
The extremely contagious and lethal virus has grow to be the scourge of the poultry business since an outbreak in 2022. More than 92 million poultry and wild birds have been killed within the United States as a part of an eradication effort, in keeping with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In Merced County, federal officers confirmed that the virus was detected at a industrial poultry farm on Sept. 18. The title and site of the ranch weren’t disclosed by state or federal officers.
Once the presence of the virus was confirmed, authorities initiated a plan to depopulate sick birds to comprise the unfold of the virus and stop it from infecting different birds.
USDA officers mentioned 64,800 turkeys will probably be killed by numerous strategies, together with a water- or carbon dioxide-based foam.
This 12 months, the virus has additionally migrated to bigger mammals, together with the nation’s dairy cows and a small variety of dairy employees, whose signs have been gentle.
On Monday, the USDA reported that 231 dairy cattle herds had been affected in 14 states, together with the nation’s prime milk producer, California.
The variety of California dairy herds contaminated with avian flu has jumped from three herds to 34 in three weeks. Farms with contaminated cows have been quarantined to attempt to forestall the unfold of the virus.
Infected dairy cows will lose their urge for food, produce much less milk, and be torpid. But they are going to recuperate after a number of weeks.
