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Utah agriculture officers are anxious in regards to the potential impression of avian flu outbreaks on the poultry business and the food supply. There are two confirmed instances within the state.
One, reported on April 23, was on a farm in Cache County. Because the illness is so contagious, all chickens on that farm can be culled, in accordance to Bailee Woolstenhulme, a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
“It’s going to be devastating to them, to their business, to our food supply,” she stated. “That will hugely impact our egg availability and our chicken availability due to the loss of other chicken farms in the country.”
The second was in a yard flock in Utah County.
Twenty-nine states have reported outbreaks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Utah and Idaho are the furthest west.
Woolstenhulme stated most farms have already got strict measures in place to keep away from avian flu. But she instructed that Utahns with yard chickens ought to maintain them cooped up and away from something that wild birds may are available contact with.
It’s not simply the agricultural business that’s involved. The Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City has additionally made adjustments to assist defend its greater than 400 birds.
“To be extra safe and extra cautious based on what we’re seeing in Utah, we’ve closed a couple of our exhibits,” stated Kate Lyngle-Cowand, curator of exhibit collections. “But with that said, we also have some exhibits there netted over to protect our birds from the wild waterfowl that like to frequent our ponds.”
According to the CDC, it’s very uncommon for the illness to infect people.
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