Avian Flu Sweeps Through Poultry Farms in Minnesota and Indiana
H5N1 appears to have evolved to be more transmissible. Researchers fear it is here to stay, and could devastate the poultry industry.
Earlier this year, I noted that the production of eggs in the US plummeted in April as millions of hens were killed during one of the worst-ever outbreaks of avian influenza.
Now reports indicate that avian flu (i.e., “bird flu”) has returned to the Midwest earlier than authorities expected after several months, with the highly pathogenic disease detected in two commercial turkey flocks in western Minnesota and a hobby flock in Indiana.
The disease was detected after a farm in Meeker County reported an increase in mortality last weekend, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health said. The flock was euthanized to stop the spread. The board later reported that a second flock in the county tested positive Tuesday evening.
They were the first detections of avian influenza in Minnesota since May 31, when a backyard flock was struck in Becker County. Indiana’s case was its first since a backyard flock there tested positive June 8, which had been the last detection in the Midwest before this week.
However, there have been several detections in western states in July and August, including California, where a half-dozen commercial farms have had to kill more than 425,000 chickens and turkeys since last week. There have also been cases in Washington, Oregon and Utah, plus a few in some eastern states.
“While the timing of this detection is a bit sooner than we anticipated, we have been preparing for a resurgence of the avian influenza we dealt with this spring,” said Dr. Shauna Voss, the board’s senior veterinarian. “HPAI is here and biosecurity is the first line of defense to protect your birds.”
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, rare wild birds are among many species hit by an “unprecedented” avian flu outbreak across the Atlantic.
Wild birds from threatened roseate terns, puffins and gannets to hen harriers are being hit by an “unprecedented” avian flu outbreak, officials have said.
Bird flu has been found at scores of poultry farms and commercial premises across the UK in the past year, while the disease has also ripped through breeding colonies of seabirds, killing thousands in some sites.
The Environment Department (Defra) and Welsh Government have set out new guidance to land managers, the public and conservation groups to curb the impact of bird flu in wild birds, while protecting health and the countryside.
The avian flu in question, H5N1, first emerged in poultry in China’s Guangdong province in 1996 and since then has caused several significant outbreaks worldwide. It has evolved to be more transmissible among many bird species.
It has evolved to infect waterfowl species without causing significant harm, allowing the birds to spread the virus far and wide. In the current outbreak, waterbirds are thought to have carried the virus to Canada from Europe and then down the eastern seaboard. Bald eagles, owls, and other predators died after eating infected waterbirds.
In February, H5N1 reached the Mississippi flyway, where snow geese and other species migrate to northern Canada. Along the way it infected poultry operations, forcing farmers to cull 40 million chickens and turkeys. Later in the spring, the virus slowly moved westward.
By now, H5N1 has been detected in more than 2000 wild birds in the United States, compared with just 99 during the 2015 outbreak; biologists suspect the virus is much more transmissible than its predecessors. “It has just exploded in the breadth of species that it’s observed in,” says Wendy Puryear, a wildlife virologist at Tufts University.
….[M]any researchers say the virus is already entrenched in some parts of the United States. If those areas overlap major poultry farming areas, the consequences could be serious. Farmers could face a constant risk of major losses, and Richards says they would need to maintain or tighten biosecurity measures—meticulously cleaning boots and equipment, for example.
Much remains to be learned. In wild birds, for example, just how H5N1 moves from one individual to another and between species is still a mystery, says Tufts wildlife virologist Kaitlin Sawatzki. “It’s going to be a very complicated story,” she says. “It’s hard to predict, and we’re nervous.”
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Comments
In the age of Fauxci I can only wonder if/how “the government” delivered the virus and which vectors they intend for the ultimate dissemination.
planned famine?
Government tells the farmer his flock is infected and must be destroyed, which means reduction in poultry product availability, which means higher prices for what is available, which leads to increased pain for the consumer who will then look to government for a ‘solution.’ It makes you wonder if that is a by-product of the bird flu or the original intent?
Guangdong Province? What bio labs in Hong Kong, Macau, or Guangzhou were doing research with grants from the NIH, courtesy of our favorite garden gnome? Can you say increased transmissibility? Given what’s been learned the past couple years, the possibility can’t be dismissed outright. It might be worth digging into.
I had the same thought.
In my high school years, I would hear on TV or in the newspaper about a local epidemic like this and my first thought would be whether the Department of Agriculture would choose to send them some kind of a grant or program to address it.
Now, my first thought is to wonder how the federal government could have caused it.
What the cluck is going on here?
Not funny as millions of these animals will be put to death
You know this virus is likely to evolve into a human pandemic emergency at some point – severe enough that COVID was just a dress rehearsal. Will it happen in time for the Midterms? Or perhaps right afterward? Maybe for 2024?
Food for thought – What if it happens after the election but before the next Congress convenes? Suppose the Biden Administration orders a nationwide lockdown with a shutdown of all airports and a total or partial ban on interstate travel, and the TSA is redeployed from the closed airports to enforce bans on interstate travel along with National Guard and Federal Troops. Suppose the GOP won a narrow majority in both Houses, but to actually take office, the new reps have to travel to DC – but they can’t. Who organizes the new Congress? The Democrats do.
Then we revolt.
What if that is what they want you to do?
My bigger point is that Democrats are very crafty at exploiting an emergency situation to grab power – and they have the Media on their side to generate the narrative and public panic. Everyone thinks of them re-running the 2020 playbook, but generals always fight the last war. The next time might not be like the last time. If you are a newly elected GOP rep, and some kind of pandemic starts brewing again, make sure you travel to DC early while you still can. Don’t wait for the Democrats to act, because by then it could be too late.
“What if that is what they want you to do?”
Then I will do it to the very utmost of my ability.
As they have proven by immigrating a lot of illegals who may actually vote Republican, Democrats aren’t always bright about the actual results of what they think they want.
I’m begging some of you not to go down the route of “everything’s a hoax”. Please watch, wait, and most importantly, read.
H5N1 is THE avian flu that you may have heard about. When it does infect people it has a ridiculously HIGH mortality rate (around 60%). Luckily for us, it has had a low transmission rate to humans so far.
The idea that this virus could mutate into a human death plague if it became more transmissible is not far-fetched at all. Heck, give WEF the idea and they might want to engineer it as such for the great reset.
My point is not to say that you shouldn’t watch out for Dem malfeasance as they are extremely self-serving in such matters…quick to take credit, duck blame, and grab power….we know this. But please also pay attention to quality information from unbiased sources is all I’m saying. Don’t automatically assume that information you don’t want to hear is a lie.
This was not supposed to be a direct reply to this post but a separate comment.
Always China, the diseases outside of Africa, always China
Flues have always evolved in China and greater Southeast Asia for centuries. That part of the world has the highest concentration of people along with pigs and chickens living among the people. That is what it takes for a virus to evolve in animals and get adapted to people. Of course, Bird Flu started in China, but is now worldwide, and can evolve to become human transmissible anywhere on Earth. That could start in the US.
China is a evil evil hole and what they don’t invent by squalid living conditions, they invent
When will the world say enough?
Okay. Let’s take inventory.
We are being flooded with millions of immigrants who are not checked out for disease, drugs, or anything else.
Our food processing plants are being mysteriously burnt down.
China and Bill Gates are buying up our agricultural land and telling us to get used to eating bugs.
Brandon tells us that we have to surrender our 2A rights because we can’t stop guns from being illegally transported through our borders to the drug cartels.
The CDC has admitted that the masks and vaccines don’t work but FDA still keeps approving new versions.
Our governors and majors are emptying the prisons and jails and releasing unprocessed criminals without bail.
The Uniparty has declared that more than half of American citizens are “semi-fascists” while threatening us with F-15s and telling us they aren’t interested in our votes so go away.
Do I have to go on? Whose government is this? When did we lose a war? Shouldn’t they be on OUR side?
We did lose the war, officially 2020
Please note that the Avian flu migrates from flock to flock carried by wild birds. Your home chicken coops are not safe.
Amazing how conveniently timed these diseases are. WEF pushing for global pandemic measures, then a couple of months later COVID appears. WEF pushing to eliminate meat to “save the planet”, then a few months later avian flu starts decimating avian food animals.
You forgot monkeypox, but it didn’t have the BAM, killing factor they were looking for