H5N1 Infects More Flocks

This week, the H5N1 Avian Flu virus continued to disrupt agriculture across the country.

The virus was detected in three different poultry flocks in northwest Iowa.  Two flocks of layers had confirmed infections, and a commercial flock of turkeys was also found to have been infected. Over 4 million birds were destroyed. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the beginning of a milk testing program nationally to determine how widespread Avian Flu has become in the country’s dairy herd. The testing of bulk milk tanks on farms will begin in six states, but will eventually be national. While the USDA tracks confirmed infections, it does not report the individual farms or even the counties where infections are found. 

Part of the concern about the H5N1 virus is the potential for it to mutate into a variant that can easily spread to humans. Scientists at Scripps Research reported this week that a key change to the protein structure on the surface of the virus would allow it to easily infect human respiratory systems.

There have been 58 confirmed cases of avian flu in humans in the United States this year, mostly among farmworkers or poultry cullers. There have been no fatalities.

For Market to Market, I’m Peter Tubbs