DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is responding to two probable cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Clay and Hamilton counties. The Department has quarantined the premise and once the presence of the disease is confirmed, all birds on the property will be humanely euthanized to prevent the spread of the disease.
To date, the total poultry affected in this avian flu outbreak is 29,138,815 birds, according to the Iowa Agriculture Department. This includes everything from turkeys to back yard ducks.
There are no food safety concerns associated with HPAI. The risk to humans from H5N2 HPAI is low, as there has never been a reported case of infection. There is no evidence that H5N2 HPAI can cause disease in mammals. Poultry on affected farms are prohibited from being processed or sold. This H5N2 viral signature originates in waterfowl (ducks, geese, swans, gulls) and shorebirds (herons, egrets).
I haven’t been following this closely. Is it harmful to eat fowl or eggs infected with this virus? If not, why are they killing all these birds? They can’t stop it once it’s in the wild population. It will be survival of the fittest.
They keep killing all the birds but can’t stop it. The wild birds have it and give it to the domesticated birds. The fear is it could mutate to the point humans can catch it. That is what happened in 1918.