Less than a week after a very deadly strain of birds virus was found in a Georgia commercial livestock service for the first time, a second and even larger sheep near has tested positive for the disease, state agriculture officials said Wednesday.
The disease, the H5N1 strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, has ravaged wild animals, business chicken and some animal species for more than two decades across the U. S. during an extraordinary pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the risk to humans from H5N1 is small, but public health officials fear that the disease has the ability to transform into a crisis. In the meantime, it has also caused widespread disruption to chicken, chicken and dairy fields in different states.
Georgia has had occasional confirmed infections in wild birds and some garden flocks, but until now, the state’s superstar chicken industry had managed to dodge the disease.
Like the first, the following scenario even occurred in Elbert County, about 35 km north of Athens. Georgia Department of Agriculture spokesman Matthew Agvent described the place as a “poultry dense” part of the state, with 120 other livestock farms within a 10-mile diameter of the affected facilities.
The next identification was found on Jan. 17 during “routine, pre-movement ” testing by the Georgia Poultry Lab Network, but was not confirmed by a U. S. Department of Agriculture laboratory until late Tuesday, the GDA said.
The sheep where the disease was found was located about 210 yards from grounds where the first disease was confirmed last week in a congregation of 45,000 species, the GDA said. The new circumstance occurred in a congregation of 130,000 animals, all of which were culled to have the spread, GDA authorities confirmed Wednesday.
The near proximity of the sheep allowed Georgia agriculture representatives to listen to both instances at the same time, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said in a speech. The agency said “depopulation ” of the birds in both facilities was completed within 48 hours of the Jan. 17 recognition, but added that removal and sterilization is still in progress. In the meantime, the GDA said its law enforcement officers are maintaining a stable perimeter around the affected facilities.
In a speech, Harper stressed that bird flu “remains a major threat to our state’s business, Georgia’s No. 1 market, and the health and safety of chickens in our state, ” and thanked workers who he said had been working in the terrible cold.
Georgia is the country ’s top producer of broiler chickens and the state’s industry that is worth an estimated$ 6. 7 billion , according to a University of Georgia analysis based on 2022 data, the most recent time available.
Other methods state leaders announced in response to the initial diagnosis last year will remain in place, GDA said.
All commercial poultry operations within a 6. 2. -mile or 10-kilometer radius will remain under quarantine for at least two weeks, with additional surveillance testing. Since the two poultry facilities were located in close proximity, GDA said they were not expanding the quarantine perimeter.
After the first detection last week, the GDA announced a statewide suspension of all poultry exhibitions, shows, swaps, meets, and sales. A ban on those activities will remain in effect indefinitely.
But retail sales of chicken and eggs are not impacted. In a news release Saturday, Harper stressed that the state’s food supply is safe.
“Every Georgian can and should have 100 % confidence in the safety and security of poultry products offered for sale in the state of Georgia, ” Harper said.
Georgia has not had any confirmed cases of H5N1 in cattle or humans, but a stream of concerning news about the virus has been pouring out of other states.
Earlier this month , a patient in Louisiana died from H5N1, becoming the first death in the U. S. from the virus. California also recently declared a state of emergency in response to an explosive outbreak in dairy cattle. Meanwhile, scientists say there are signs the virus may be changing in ways that could allow it to spread more easily to humans
GDA officials have urged Georgia poultry producers to closely monitor their flocks and report any unusual symptoms they observe. Clinical signs of bird flu infection in avian species include lethargy, loss of appetite, discolored combs and feet, and sudden death without signs of disease.
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