California – Sonoma County, often lauded as the “Egg Basket of the World,” where officials declared a state of emergency following the forced euthanization of over a million birds in two months across nearly a dozen farms.
Merced County has also seen significant outbreaks in several of its large commercial egg-producing farms.
One of the most affected is Sunrise Farms in Petaluma where it had to cull its entire flock of 550,000 egg-laying hens after they tested positive for the avian flu. The situation has caused great economic loss to the owners and employees as many have been rendered jobless.
Nearly 82 million birds, mostly egg-laying chickens, in 47 U.S. states, were slaughtered according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Whenever the disease is found the entire flock is slaughtered to help limit the spread of the virus.
Birds of migration species like ducks and geese may become infected yet asymptomatic carriers of the avian flu virus that spreads the infection. Droppings and nasal discharges from birds are the sources through which poultry get infected by the virus. Even in poultry farms in California, extreme biosecurity measures were emphasized in which they closed their flocks inside to eliminate the risk of infection.