Despite a cool down in cases over the last several months here in the United States, veterinarians warn High Pathogenic Avian Influenza is still a threat.
The virus can now be found on all seven continents, and countries all across the globe are working to keep it in check. Dr. John Clifford with the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council says the way the virus moved is very different compared to the last outbreak in 2015. Back then, 85 percent of the spread was by humans. Lessons learned and strong bio-security measures helped keep that in check.
This time around, it is just 15 percent, and instead, wild birds are the biggest threat right now.
As of early June, commercial U.S. producers lost 57.7 million birds; about 10 million were turkeys and more than 44 million were egg layers, and 3.2 million were broilers.
The current strain has been detected in more types of birds like geese and vultures. When the previous outbreak was over in 2015, a total of 50.4 million commercial birds had been culled, but that strain largely hit birds like turkeys and egg layers.
