PLATTEVILLE, Colorado ‒ The federal scientists in biohazard suits outside a massive ‒ but virtually deserted ‒ chicken farm don’t need to say a word to indicate that something is very wrong.
On a normal day, the farm’s driveway would be filled with trucks, some arriving with feed and others departing with cases and cartons of eggs destined for grocery stores and restaurants across the West.
But on a recent afternoon, all was quiet, except for a handful of workers drifting across the sprawling farm’s complex, and the two white-suited experts with the federal government’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, their pant legs tucked in or taped carefully to their boots.
While the federal inspection workers can’t say anything publicly, their presence signaled the increasing concern public health experts across the nation are displaying about an outbreak of “Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza” ‒ bird flu ‒ in this rural farming community about 40 miles northeast of Denver.
Gov. Jared Polis has declared a disaster emergency and released $3.5 million in funding for oversight, testing and safety equipment, federal officials have repeatedly briefed reporters, and workers have once again killed millions of chickens to slow the spread.