Current Events > Largest U.S. egg producer detects bird flu at Texas plant.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at a facility in Parmer County, Texas.

Heard on the radio this morning that someone in TX got bird flu from a cow,for the 1st time.

Time to quadruple the price of eggs!

Cal-Maine Foods
FTA:
The largest egg producer in the United States said Tuesday that it temporarily ceased operations at one of its Texas facilities after detecting bird flu in chickens the latest in a steady uptick of cases among U.S. farm animals in recent weeks.

Cal-Maine Foods said it culled about 1.6 million hens and 337,000 pullets (young hens) after some of its chickens at a Parmer County, Texas, facility tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), caused by influenza A viruses that spread widely among wild and domestic birds.

A dairy worker in Texas was being treated for the virus that causes avian influenza, becoming only the second known human case in the United States, state and federal officials said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the person tested positive for H5N1 bird flu.

The culled chickens at Cal-Maine Foods represent 3.6 percent of its flock as of March 2, it said. The company said no farm is immune from HPAI but added that it remains dedicated to robust biosecurity programs across its locations.

Minnesota officials reported the first infection of bird flu among livestock in the United States last month, when a juvenile goat living on a farm with infected chickens tested positive.

Last month, bird flu was also detected in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas. Later that week, U.S. officials said that cows in Michigan had tested positive and that there were presumptive positive tests among cows in Idaho and New Mexico, suggesting that the virus may be spreading among cattle.

On Tuesday, Michigans Department of Agriculture and Rural Development announced that bird flu was detected at a commercial poultry plant in Ionia County, the fourth detection of HPAI in a commercial facility since the virus was first spotted in the state in 2022.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also said Tuesday that cases were detected in a dairy cow herd in Idaho.

Officials have said the risk to human health remains low. But the CDC has warned that people with unprotected exposure to infected birds or other animals, including livestock, are at greater risk of infection.
People should also avoid uncooked or undercooked food, unpasteurized milk and raw cheese, according to the CDC. Cooking eggs or poultry to an internal temperature of about 165 degrees Fahrenheit generally kills bacteria and viruses, including bird flu viruses, it says. Backyard chickens or pet chickens are at risk if they come in contact with wild birds carrying the virus.

Human symptoms of bird flu include eye redness, fever, coughing, sore throat, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting or seizures are less common, the CDC said.

The eggdemic.

I doubt this is true and they are just doing this to gouge egg prices

I dont think its fake they dont need a reason to raise the price of eggs they been price gouging since the pandemic and still are

Cal-Maine specifically was the center of the egg price gouging a year or so ago.
I'm sure the bird flu thing is true, but I'm also sure they're greedily rubbing their hands together at the prospect of turning a 3.6% loss of stock into a 200% price surge.

modena posted...

Heard on the radio this morning that someone in TX got bird flu from a cow,for the 1st time.

Its not too uncommon for people working with animals to get the bird flu. I remember a year or two ago about a dozen people got the bird flu from livestock in Southeast Asia but nothing spread after that.

If it starts spreading from human to human then it could get bad.

Halo478 posted...

Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at a facility in Parmer County, Texas.

What an awkward way to phrase things...they destroyed the Hens?

Egg shortage incoming

they literally destroy every chicken in that farm if a few get sick sad really

Halo478 posted...

1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock

thats an insane number. I knew the chicken farms were bad, but holy shit man

What are the chances of a bird flu epidemic amongst humans happening? Should we be worried about it?

The_Sock posted...

What are the chances of a bird flu epidemic amongst humans happening? Should we be worried about it?

Bird flu is weaker than regular flu iirc. Be worried about it but you don't have to panic if you weren't already panicking

Hmm, sounds eggsactly like something a shell company would hatch up