More than four million chickens in Iowa will be culled following the detection of highly pathogenic bird flu at a large egg farm, state officials announced Tuesday. as reported by The Well News
Crews are in the process of killing 4.2 million chickens after the disease was found at a farm in Sioux County, Iowa. This incident is part of a prolonged outbreak that now affects dairy cattle as well. Last week, the virus was confirmed at an egg farm west of Minneapolis, Minnesota, leading to the slaughter of nearly 1.4 million chickens.
Since the outbreak began in 2022, a total of 92.34 million birds have been killed, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
While bird flu is relatively common among poultry, its spread to cattle has raised additional concerns. In May, a second dairy farmworker was diagnosed with bird flu, and the virus was detected in both beef and milk. The disease has been confirmed on dairy cattle farms in nine states. told by NBC
Health and agriculture officials maintain that the risk to the public remains low. The USDA stated that meat from a single sickened dairy cow was not allowed to enter the nation’s food supply and that beef remains safe to eat.
Workers exposed to infected animals are at higher risk. The only three human cases confirmed in the United States include two dairy workers and one man working to slaughter infected birds on a poultry farm.
