Hundreds of thousands of chickens in Nebraska are set to be “humanely depopulated” after being diagnosed with the highly contagious “bird flu.”
The flock of broilers or chickens raised for meat production in Butler County had a confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza and will be disposed of “in an approved manner,” the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday in a press release.
“Having a second farm in Nebraska confirmed to have HPAI [bird flu] is unfortunate but not completely unexpected,” NDA Director Steve Wellman said. “NDA will use all the resources at our disposal, in coordination with our federal partners, to manage a quick response.”
Officials said a 6.2-mile control zone was established around the infected farm, halting any movement of birds or poultry products on or off the premises.
TALIBAN CLOSE GIRLS SCHOOLS HOURS AFTER REOPENING
The farm went into quarantine after noticing a larger-than-normal number of deaths. The virus can be easily spread between birds through nasal and eye discharge and be carried from flock to flock through contact with shared equipment or on the clothing and shoes of caretakers, the release said.
The virus does not typically pass to humans, though select cases have been reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No human cases of avian influenza have been detected in the United States.
Last month, the USDA confirmed the first case of bird flu in commercial poultry in the U.S. since 2020 in a turkey flock in Dubois County, Indiana.
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The Nebraska Department of Agriculture did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
