USDA is calling on farmers to double down on biosecurity measures after the discovery of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The last major outbreak cost producers nearly $2 billion dollars and more than 50 million birds died. The deadly disease has been found in the Carolinas, as well as Canada and France.
Several state agriculture chiefs have already issued warnings to be on high alert.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service explains what to look for.
“It starts perhaps with just simple ways that birds just don’t feel good. They’re quiet. More quiet than normal. They don’t eat as much. They may not drink as much water. These are all signs that things aren’t normal within the flock, and they need to be reported and they need to be looked into, and perhaps, the flock needs to be tested,” according to APHIS’s Dr. Jack Shere
He says that avian flu can mimic other illnesses which is why it is so important to test.
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Avian influenza cases put poultry producers on high alert to ramp up biosecurity