An outbreak of avian flu, which has resulted in millions of chickens being euthanized, threatens to drive up the cost of poultry and eggs, The Hill reported Sunday.
For the past month, cases of the disease have been cropping up across the United States, with the heaviest concentrations seen in the agricultural hubs of northern California.
"There's economy of scale in commercial agriculture, including poultry," University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine avian disease specialist Maurice Pitesky told The Hill. "No pun intended — if you put your eggs all in one basket, the virus gets into a facility and then all the birds have to be euthanized, unfortunately."
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, as of Friday approximately 10.62 million birds across the nation had been infected with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in the past 30 days.
Last year, there was a significant increase in the rate of poultry disease. This caused a shortage of eggs across the nation and an increase in prices. Unfortunately, the country could be heading in the same direction again. Although egg prices are half what they were a year ago, they have risen by 12% in the past month, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Further complicating matters, Pitesky explained, some vaccinated birds may not exhibit any symptoms of the disease but still spread it. Nonetheless, at the insistence of the World Organization for Animal Health, "all available tools" are called for to reduce the risks of this turning into a full-blown pandemic — including vaccination.
"We can't keep on having this happen every year, where we're having to euthanize and depopulate millions of birds — from a welfare perspective, from an economic perspective," Pitesky said. "There is value in having large farms, but I also think we need to be very thoughtful about where we have those large farms."
Nick Koutsobinas ✉
Nick Koutsobinas, a Newsmax writer, has years of news reporting experience. A graduate from Missouri State University’s philosophy program, he focuses on exposing corruption and censorship.
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