New cases of bird flu have been detected at a commercial chicken farm in Pennsylvania and at a backyard chicken farm in Utah, the US Department of Agriculture said Saturday, with the outbreak now spreading to more than 30 states across the country. (mikecranephotography.com, Alamy)
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WASHINGTON — New cases of bird flu have been detected at a commercial chicken farm in Pennsylvania and at a backyard chicken farm in Utah, the US Department of Agriculture said Saturday, the outbreak has now subsided and has spread to more than 30 states in the country.
The department said earlier this month it was considering vaccines as an option to protect poultry against the deadly bird flu as the country faces its worst outbreak since 2015. The current outbreak has wiped out more than 20 million chickens and turkeys in commercial flocks since February.
“Samples from the Pennsylvania herd were tested at the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory and samples from the Utah herd were tested at the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, both of which are part of the National Network of Animal Health Laboratories,” the USDA said in a statement Saturday.
Federal and state officials are working together on additional surveillance and testing in areas around the affected herds, the USDA said.
The recent cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza do not pose an immediate public health problem, US authorities said.
Previously, the United States avoided vaccines because it feared importers would ban the shipment of American poultry because they could not tell infected from vaccinated birds. The United States is the world’s second largest exporter of poultry meat. In 2020, the value of US exports of poultry and poultry products to the world reached $4.2 billion.
Avian flu has struck poultry in Europe and Asia in addition to North America, and the USDA is working with other countries on vaccination options.
Trade has suffered as importers like China blocked imports from many US states with outbreaks.
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