Bird Flu Continuing To Impact Midwest Poultry Industry

imgresThe number of poultry farms now affected by the bird flu is growing dramatically with 13 new farms reporting an outbreak last week in Minnesota alone. South Dakota’s latest outbreak was at a farm in Spink County. Dr. Russell Daly, who is an SDSU Extension Veterinarian, says the influenza outbreak is changing by the hour. He says. He says the problem migrated from the West Coast last December and has now found its way into the northern plains. Daly, however, is still downplaying concerns the H5N2 bug could mutate to humans..

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Daly agrees with those who feel the farms are being impacted by migrating birds carrying the bird flu…

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The fact that it’s popping up all over the map makes Daly believe the spread is related to wild birds. Most concerning is that it’s a fast acting bug and spreads easily from barn to barn. Is the outbreak nearing it’s peak?…

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Daly says that, even although large numbers of birds have been lost to the bird flu, it’s still a small number in relation to the large number of birds produced nationwide…

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In South Dakota alone more than 4 million turkeys are processed annually. Daly says the numbers lost to the flu are significant, but it’s not like we’ve lost half our population.