“A leader in Iowa’s poultry industry says USA egg and turkey farmers are resilient and will ‘get through” an outbreak of bird flu in Indiana.
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Hoses used to spread a suffocating foam are freezing as the state tries to mass-kill the H7N8 virus infected flocks.
Now a new strain, H7N8, is sweeping chicken and turkey farms in Indiana.
Crews began euthanizing more than 245,000 turkeys in Indiana’s Dubois County last week to prevent the virus’ spread.
The egg-laying chickens were housed at one of the 10 commercial farms where turkeys had been infected with the H7N8 virus and were at a high risk of contracting it themselves, Indiana State Board of Animal Health spokeswoman Denise Derrer said Tuesday.
“Producers have been discussing the new outbreak in a series of conference calls since they first became aware of the in case late yesterday”, John Brunnquell, Egg Innovations president, said in a statement.
IN is a significant poultry producer, with state officials valuing the industry as $2.5 billion. No human infections associated with the new strain have ever been reported, according to the USDA. While their turkeys tested negative for the H7N8 virus, Denu says the outbreak has taken a toll. North American viruses have typically posed less of a threat to humans than viruses from the Asian Avian H5N1 lineage, said Carol Cardona, an avian flu expert at the University of Minnesota.
The federal government sprang into action on Friday after confirmation overnight that the virus had hit an IN turkey farm.
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Frigid temperatures are hampering efforts to euthanize turkeys at several southwestern IN farms where bird flu was found last week. When properly prepared, poultry and eggs are safe to eat. APHIS noted that low-pathogenic H7 viruses, though, have been known to mutate into highly pathogenic strains, which have the potential to spread quickly and cause many deaths in domestic poultry.
