Bird Flu Was Found in Chickens at the Largest U.S. Egg Producer

The largest producer of contemporary eggs within the U.S. mentioned Tuesday it had briefly halted manufacturing at a Texas plant after bird flu was present in chickens, and officers mentioned the virus had additionally been detected at a poultry facility in Michigan.

Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Meals, Inc. mentioned in a press release that roughly 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its whole flock, have been destroyed after the an infection, avian influenza, was discovered at a facility in Parmer County, Texas.

The plant is on the Texas-New Mexico border within the Texas Panhandle about 85 miles (137 kilometers) southwest of Amarillo and about 370 miles (595 kilometers) northwest of Dallas. Cal-Maine mentioned it sells most of its eggs within the Southwestern, Southeastern, Midwestern and mid-Atlantic areas of the USA.

“The Firm continues to work carefully with federal, state and native authorities officers and targeted business teams to mitigate the danger of future outbreaks and successfully handle the response,” the assertion mentioned.

“Cal-Maine Meals is working to safe manufacturing from different amenities to attenuate disruption to its prospects,” the assertion mentioned.

The corporate mentioned there isn’t any recognized chook flu danger related to eggs which are presently available in the market and no eggs have been recalled.

Eggs which are correctly dealt with and cooked are fit for human consumption, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The announcement by Cal-Maine comes a day after state health officials said an individual had been recognized with chook flu after being involved with cows presumed to be contaminated, and that the danger to the general public stays low. The human case in Texas marks the primary recognized occasion globally of an individual catching this model of chook flu from a mammal, federal well being officers mentioned.

In Michigan, Michigan State College’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has detected chook flu in a business poultry facility in Ionia County, in accordance with the Michigan’s Division of Agriculture and Rural Improvement.

The county is about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Detroit.

The division mentioned it obtained affirmation of the illness Monday from the lab and that it’s the fourth time since 2022 that the illness was detected at a business facility in Michigan.

Division spokesperson Jennifer Holton mentioned Tuesday that state legislation prohibits the division from disclosing the kind of poultry on the facility. The ability has been positioned below quarantine and the division doesn’t anticipate any disruptions to provide chains throughout the state, Holton mentioned.

Dairy cows in Texas and Kansas were reported to be contaminated with chook flu final week — and federal agriculture officers later confirmed infections in a Michigan dairy herd that had lately obtained cows from Texas. A dairy herd in Idaho has been added to the checklist after federal agriculture officers confirmed the detection of chook flu in them, in accordance with a Tuesday press launch from the USDA.

Related Press author Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.