The new, alarming bird flu spreading among American birds may be here to stay

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Poultry farmers sabotage their flocks

The poultry industry has seen the highest number of deaths in turkeys and chickens, and farmers are ready for more.

Bird flu in 2014 and 2015 caused the deaths of over 50 million birds. It also cost the industry billions. April month was the most affected.

“So I think that I am kinda holding my breath this month,” said Denise Heard director of research programs at the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.

Heard says there are many ways for the virus to spread from wild birds to poultry. The industry has been working to educate farmers on how to protect their flocks since the last outbreak.

She explains that wild migratory waterfowls are constantly flying over the top and that when they poop, that pee gets on the ground.” The virus can then be tracked to birdhouses using boots, or accidentally moved from farm to farm on vehicles.

Heard said that the spread of the virus is less than it was during the last major outbreak. There are now more isolated cases, possibly because wild birds are spreading the virus to backyard flocks and farms.

Poultry farmers might have to learn to live with the virus if it persists in wild birds populations, which is what some scientists believe to be likely.

“I hope this is not the situation. I hope this virus will soon die down in the United States and that it will be gone again in the same way as in 2014.” Ron Fouchier is a virologist at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. However, there is no guarantee of that. We have seen this virus in Europe for many years.

Farmers in Europe have had to kill more than 17,000,000 birds since December. Fouchier says that the U.S. situation is very similar. Fouchier says, “And we’re seeing huge die-offs among wild birds.”