Bird flu struck a poultry farm in Georgia, the leading state in the country for chicken production, for the first time since the nationwide outbreak in 2022.
A commercial poultry producer in Elbert County, about 100 miles (165 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta, has been found to have a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, the state Department of Agriculture said Friday. All chicken sales, swaps, exhibits, exhibitions, and meetings were halted by the agency.
In Georgia, the virus has been found four times, but only in backyard flocks. Earlier this month, it was found in 13 hens and ducks in Clayton County, which is south of Atlanta.
“This is a serious threat to Georgia’s #1 industry and the livelihoods of thousands of Georgians who make their living in our state’s poultry industry,” Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper stated in a news release.
According to the announcement, the producer initially observed clinical indications of avian flu at the Elbert County site on Wednesday.
A positive viral detection was verified Thursday afternoon by the Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network and confirmed Friday by the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory. When avian flu was discovered, there were roughly 45,000 broiler breeders at the location.
State Agricultural Response Teams from the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Management arrived at the location on Friday to “conduct depopulation, cleaning and disinfecting, and disposal operations.”
A quarantine was placed on all commercial poultry enterprises within a 6.2-mile (10-kilometer) radius, and they will all be subject to surveillance testing for at least two weeks.
According to local publications, Georgia Poultry Federation president Mike Giles said in a statement on Saturday that the organization is working with federal and state authorities and that testing procedures are already in place to ensure that all chicken products sold for consumption are safe to consume. The state’s producers are represented by the federation.
“That approach to protecting the safety of poultry products produced in Georgia will continue throughout this response and beyond” Giles stated.
When an animal disease breaks out, the Georgia Department of Agriculture does not disclose the name of the affected location, according to a representative for the department.
This is done to avoid any unlawful access to the operation, which might lead to a larger spread of the disease, and to protect the farmer from being harassed.
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Over the course of the past two years, the bird flu has been spreading, resulting in the deaths of millions of wild and domestic birds across the globe, in addition to other animals.
According to the most recent online data that was made available by the United States Department of Agriculture, the virus has been found in 84 commercial and backyard flocks across the country in the past month.
There were 10.7 million birds present at those locations. In addition to that, it has been verified in a large number of dairy farms.
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One person has passed away as a result of bird flu, despite the fact that human cases are uncommon and are most commonly discovered among farmworkers. The deceased individual was a Louisiana male who was over the age of 65 and was hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms.
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