Nearly 1 million chickens in Minnesota to be euthanized due to bird flu

Nearly 1 million chickens minnesota poultry farms Officials said on Monday they would be culled to help limit the spread of bird flu after its presence was confirmed.

he federal ministry of agriculture (USDA) announced that the virus was found on a farm in Wright County, Minnesota, as well as in three smaller chicken flocks in Wright County, Minnesota. south dakota

and Iowa.

Whenever a highly contagious avian influenza virus is detected on a farm, all birds are culled to prevent the virus from spreading to other farms.

In addition to the Minnesota case, the USDA said about 26,800 turkeys will be slaughtered at one farm in the county McPhersonin South Dakota, nearly 17,000 poultry will be slaughtered at two farms in the county clay from iowa.

The egg and poultry industry has been facing an outbreak of bird flu since last year.

By 2022, almost 58 million birds (mainly chicken and turkey) Slaughtering to combat the virus has contributed significantly to rising egg and turkey prices. A Minnesota farm is the first egg producer to detect bird flu this year.

The total number of birds slaughtered is much lower 2023 than 2022Farmers have redoubled their efforts to prevent any contact between their birds and the ducks and geese migrating over their farms, after a significant drop in the number of cases detected among wild birds.

Even if Minnesota farms slaughter 940,000 chickens, only about 3.4 million chickens will be slaughtered this year.

Information from Associated Press.