US faces worst Avian Flu outbreak
Bird flu is a viral disease caused by avian influenza (H5N1) virus in birds. Thousands of birds have to be killed every year due to this. But this year bird flu cases have made history. This year alone, 50.54 million birds have been wiped out in the US alone, making it the country’s deadliest outbreak in history.
Biggest outbreak of bird flu in America
In fact, the figures of the US Department of Agriculture have come out, which shows that this year was the biggest year of bird flu outbreak in American history. Chickens, turkeys and other birds died the most this year due to this virus. This topped the previous record of 50.5 million birds that died in the 2015 avian-flu outbreak.
According to USDA data, the outbreak in the US began in February and spread to poultry and non-poultry birds in 46 states. Let us tell you that wild birds like ducks first transmit the avian influenza virus through direct contact with their faeces, feathers or poultry and then it starts spreading to other birds. Government officials are specifically studying infections at turkey farms in hopes of developing new recommendations to prevent infections. Birds often die after becoming infected. Once a bird tests positive, entire flocks, which can be upwards of a million birds in egg-laying farms, are also culled to control the spread of the disease.
