More than 20 states have reported avian influenza in commercial and backyard farms. A growing epidemic of bird flu across the East Coast and Midwest has led to more than 20 million birds dying or being destroyed since February, fueling a surge in egg and poultry prices. After circulating for months in Asia and Europe, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been detected in commercial and backyard farms in more than 20 states, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Individual farmers have been forced to cull hundreds of thousands -- sometimes millions -- of birds to check the spread of the disease. Shell egg prices have jumped to $2.88 a dozen (up more than 50%) since Feb. 8, when the first case was identified in a commercial turkey flock in Indiana. No humans have tested positive in the US yet, but the economic toll could be major: The first US epidemic in 2015 cost the poultry industry more than $1.5 billion and caused egg prices to nearly double. Here's what you need to know about bird flu, including what the outbreak means for consumers, how the industry is combating it and if it poses a threat to humans.
What is bird flu?
Bird flu is caused by avian influenza Type A viruses, which spread naturally among waterfowl and can infect wild birds, domestic poultry and other animals, though rarely humans. There are more than a dozen strains of bird flu, which are classified as either "low pathogenic" or "highly pathogenic," depending on their ability to spread disease and kill poultry. The strain bombarding the US right now, Eurasian H5N1, is considered highly pathogenic.
How is bird flu transmitted?
The main source of infection is migratory waterfowl, such as ducks and geese. "They get infected but don't get sick," Denise Derrer, public information director for the Indiana State Board of Animal Health, told CNET. "Then they shed the virus in their droppings or wherever the land." That means the spread could peak in a few weeks, when spring migration reaches its high point, and not abate until June, when the birds settle into their summer breeding grounds. How the virus gets from barn to barn is still not entirely clear, which makes it hard to get a grip on the situation, according to Dr. Yuko Sato, a professor at Iowa State's school of veterinary medicine. "There's no concluded study on how it's coming in," Sato told NPR. "We can identify some weak links -- for example, people tracking it in."
Where have bird flu outbreaks been detected?
The current strain of H5N1 was first reported in Asia and Europe. In the UK, eggs can no longer be labeled free-range because hens have been cooped up for months to avoid infection. Since the USDA confirmed the first US case in a wild duck in South Carolina in mid-January, infections have been reported in commercial farms and backyard flocks in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. As a result, more than 20 million egg-laying hens, poultry chickens and turkeys have been or will soon be "depopulated," or killed, with more infections detected nearly every day. On March 31 alone, infections were detected in five states.
Among the worst outbreaks:
- A single outbreak at a poultry farm in Wisconsin will result in 2.7 million egg-laying chickens being killed.
- In Iowa, the US' top poultry state, HPAI detected in a commercial flock in Buena Vista County resulted in the destruction of 5.3 million egg-laying chickens. Another outbreak in Osceola County on March 31 resulted in another 5 million birds being killed.
- Tyson Foods had to cull about 240,000 chickens in Kentucky last month after avian influenza was found in a commercial farm.
Is bird flu dangerous to humans?
Human infection is rare, with fewer than 900 cases reported since 2003, according to the World Health Organization. Most have been among people working directly with infected birds. Even if an infected chicken wound up at your local supermarket, avian influenza is not a foodborne disease, so you couldn't contract it from eating contaminated poultry. As of March 7, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the current H5N1 bird flu situation "is primarily an animal health issue" with no human infections in the US. But H5N1 has a very high mortality rate, and the longer and larger the wave of outbreaks, the higher the chances it could mutate into a strain that is more infectious to humans. So US health officials are closely monitoring the situation. The CDC has also produced a candidate vaccine virus as a precaution....
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