First case present in a Georgia poultry plant
The newest state to have its poultry operations hit with chook flu: Georgia.
The Georgia Division of Agriculture, together with the U.S. Division of Agriculture, confirmed on Friday, Jan. 17, the a constructive case of chook flu – extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) – in a industrial poultry operation positioned in Elbert County, Georgia.
Whereas it’s the fifth chook flu detection within the state, it is the primary confirmed case in one of many state’s industrial poultry operations, the division stated.
Officers have issued a quarantine of all industrial poultry operations inside a 6.2 mile radius and surveillance testing will probably be carried out for at the very least two weeks. All in-state poultry exhibitions, exhibits, swaps, meets and gross sales are suspended till additional discover, the division stated.
That doesn’t imply that retail sale of poultry, meat and eggs can not proceed, state officers stated.
“It is a severe menace to Georgia’s #1 trade and the livelihoods of hundreds of Georgians who make their residing in our state’s poultry trade,” Tyler Harper, state agriculture commissioner, stated in an announcement. “We’re working across the clock to mitigate any additional unfold of the illness and make sure that regular poultry actions in Georgia can resume as rapidly as doable.”
Georgia produces essentially the most rooster of any state within the U.S., with 1.3 billion chickens produced in 2022, in response to World Inhabitants Overview, based mostly on USDA statistics. As of 2022, the trade employed greater than 88,000 individuals and generated general annual financial influence to the state of greater than $28 billion, in response to the USDA.
The affected operation – positioned in japanese Georgia, northeast of Atlanta and northwest of Augusta – had about 45,000 broiler breeders onsite on the time of detection, officers stated.
The producer observed chook flu indicators within the flock on Jan. 15 and checks taken the following day have been confirmed as constructive, officers stated. The state agriculture division’s emergency administration and response groups arrived “to conduct depopulation, cleansing and disinfecting, and disposal operations on Friday, January seventeenth, 2025,” officers stated.
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Hen flu: What to know now
Hen flu has been making its approach around the globe since 1997 however had been largely confined to wild birds till latest years. The present chook flu pressure, H5N1, since rising in 2020 in Europe has been declared the biggest avian flu epidemic ever on that continent and has unfold to Africa, the Center East and Asia.
The chook flu pressure appeared within the U.S. in late 2021. Since April 2024, there have been a complete of 61 reported human instances of H5 chook flu reported within the U.S., in response to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
Earlier this month, the primary particular person within the U.S. to die of chook flu was reported Jan. 6 by the Louisiana Division of Public Well being. The affected person was over 65 and reported to have underlying medical circumstances.
Again in December, chook flu issues led to the recall of a line of cat meals from Northwest Naturals after well being authorities linked the demise of a cat to a batch of feed contaminated with chook flu. The USDA additionally started testing of milk nationwide to deal with chook flu outbreaks in dairy herds.
The unfold of chook flu amongst poultry flocks within the U.S. can be inflicting a spike in egg costs. As of Jan. 6, the virus had hit greater than 138 million poultry throughout 50 U.S. states since January 2022, in response to the CDC.
What are the signs of chook flu?
The present public well being danger for most of the people stays low, however individuals who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have leisure publicity to them, are at greater danger. To keep away from publicity to chook flu, keep away from direct contact with wild birds and different probably contaminated animals.
Gentle signs of H5N1 chook flu an infection – what most individuals who get contaminated expertise – might embody eye redness, fever, cough, muscle aches, fatigue, sore throat, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, stuffy or runny nostril and shortness of breath, the CDC says.
Signs for average to extreme chook flu infections might also embody excessive fever, shortness of breath or problem respiratory, altered consciousness and seizures, the CDC says. Problems of chook flu can embody however aren’t restricted to pneumonia, respiratory failure, multi-organ failure, sepsis and irritation of the mind (meningoencephalitis).
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Extra states with chook flu: Maryland and Massachusetts
Each state within the U.S. has reported at the very least one chook flu outbreak, in response to the CDC. Along with Georgia, Maryland and Massachusetts have reported latest instances.
The Maryland Division of Agriculture on Monday reported a “presumptive constructive case” of chook flu at a industrial broiler farm in Dorchester County. This comes days after Maryland officers additionally reported instances of chook flu at industrial poultry operations in Caroline County and Queen Anne’s County, like Dorchester County inside the state’s Japanese Shore.
Hen flu may need killed greater than 60 geese, swans and geese present in a Plymouth, Massachusetts pond, in response to state officers, who stated testing was being completed on the useless birds to substantiate whether or not chook flu was current.
Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr., Eduardo Cuevas, Michael Loria, Adrianna Rodriguez, Dinah Voyles Pulver and Karen Weintraub of USA TODAY, Keith Demko of the USA TODAY Community.
Comply with Mike Snider on Threads, Bluesky and X: mikegsnider &@mikegsnider.bsky.social &@mikesnider.
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