Bird Flu Outbreak Results in Death of 1.4 Million Avians, Forcing Experts To Anticipate What Comes Next

A recent bird flu outbreak has resulted in the death of roughly 1.4 million avians in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a first in the last four decades where a highly contagious strain of avian flu was detected in the region.

The incident forced authorities to order the establishment of a quarantine zone that encompassed a large portion of the county. The disease was first discovered at an East Donegal Township facility that was owned and operated by Kreider Farms, which is a family-owned dairy, egg, and poultry enterprise.

Bird Flu Outbreak

Kreider Farms manages more than 3,000 acres in Lancaster, Lebanon, and Dauphin counties and employs roughly 450 workers. In a statement, the company's vice president of operations, Tom Beachler, said that the company was cooperating with state and USDA officials to reduce the risk of further spread of avian influenza.

Beachler said that the loss of birds at the Lancaster site represented about 15% of Kreider Farms' egg layers. He added that it was fortunate that they were still able to fill customer egg orders using other remaining locations that have all tested negative for the virus, as per LancasterOnline.

Officials added that there were another 160-plus poultry operations surrounding the farm on Colebrook Road that were subjected to increased scrutiny and testing requirements. The affected areas are all located under a 10-kilometer-diameter quarantine zone.

The precautions are all part of an effort to further mitigate the possible spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The state Agriculture Secretary, Russell Redding, described the virus as a threat to Pennsylvania's $7.1 billion poultry industry where a large part of which is located in Lancaster.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, in a statement, Redding said that the heart of the poultry industry in Pennsylvania was in Lancaster County. Fortunately, experts said that the bird flu outbreak posed no imminent threat to human beings.

Effects on the Economy

The Department of Agriculture provided an update on what the outbreak of the avian flu meant for The Commonwealth. Officials said that the HPAI did not make poultry and eggs that were currently in circulation unsafe to eat as long as they were cooked properly beforehand.

Assistant Director of the State's Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services, Alex Hamberg, said that, unlike past bird flu incidents, officials were far better prepared this time around to identify cases. The official said that Pennsylvania's three animal health laboratories were able to analyze nearly 200,000 samples of Avian Influenza last year.

Hamburg added that laboratories that made up the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratories System had the capacity to test many more samples if needed. Redding warned that the primary problem that the outbreak brings would be at grocery stores.

"If you start pulling birds out, production out, meat, eggs, all of that, there's clearly, there's only so many chickens, right, there's only so many eggs, there's only so much poultry," said Redding. He added that the situation could cause already-high prices that are observed in various grocery stores to go even higher, WJACTV reported.