MADISON, Wis. (WSAU) — It’s now been three weeks since Wisconsin had a new case of avian influenza, but poultry growers are still taking precautions to prevent another breakout of the virus. That’s according to Raechelle Cline from Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, trade, and consumer protection. “Our last announced detection in Wisconsin was on May 4th, but we are still not letting our guard down at this point. The virus still might be in the environment, so we still want to keep diligent about bio-security on poultry farms.”
All of the Wisconsin chickens and turkeys affected have been destroyed, and cleanup efforts are underway at all of the sites. Cline says some of the restrictions have been relaxed for properties surrounding one of the outbreak sites. “The Juneau County property itself is not released from quarantine, but all of them in the 6.2 mile radius around that premises are released from quarantine.”
Cline says Wisconsin is sharing information with other states also hit with avian influenza. She says they are still trying to figure out exactly how the virus arrived in midwestern states like Wisconsin. “The experts, the epidemiologists and such have been talking and communicating on a regular basis, sharing ideas and sharing theories about how the virus is being transmitted, and hopefully, that will help us. In the fall, we’re hoping that that will help us to dodge the issue in the fall when the migratory pattern brings the (wild) birds heading back south.”
Wisconsin has lost well over a million birds due to this bird flu, and several other states have been hit even harder. Cline says that will affect what you see in the marketplace, but American consumers should not see a huge supply problem. “Certainly, with all of those egg laying chickens and the turkeys having to be destroyed, there’s definitely going to be an impact on the supply that’s available, but at the same time, we also have international markets that have shut down trade with us, so that may offset some of the losses we’ve had in terms of production.”
When a site gets an outbreak of avian influenza, all of the birds are euthanized and composted on site. Cline says all eggs, chickens, and turkeys on the market are safe to eat.
