A deadly strain of avian influenza is spreading across poultry farms in the Midwest. While no cases have been reported in Colorado, egg and chicken producers in the state are taking steps to keep it that way.
Millions of birds have already succumbed to the virus nationwide, and new pockets are popping up almost daily. The virus isn’t harmful to people, but can be easily transmitted from humans to poultry.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker declared a state of emergency in response to an outbreak in his state, activating the National Guard to quarantine infected flocks. A group of countries that import American poultry and eggs restricted trade earlier in 2015 due to outbreaks.
Until now it’s been confined to flocks in the Midwest and in California, with the latest big outbreak showing up on an Iowa farm that raises 3.8 million hens. Those birds were euthanized.
But even though the disease is a couple states away, that’s not stopping Jerry Wilkins, president of the Colorado Egg Producers Association, and director of marketing for Platteville, Colorado-based Morning Fresh Farms, from putting his egg operation on lockdown. Morning Fresh houses close to a million and a half hens.
“We are doing everything from restricting on farm access to essential employees only, following on farm disinfecting procedures, housing indoors to prevent access to wild birds and waterfowl,” Wilkins says.
Other egg producers in the state are tightening their biosecurity procedures as well, Wilkins says.
State agriculture officials are also keeping an eye on the virus. They’ve teamed up with Colorado State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories to monitor bird flu’s spread, and are on the look out in case it shows up in Colorado poultry.
Colorado is 20th in the country for egg production, with more than 5 million commercial egg-laying hens in the state.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture says backyard chickens are also at risk, and owners should limit their birds’ interaction with wild bird species. About a dozen backyard flocks throughout the U.S. have been infected since the beginning of 2015.
