Buena Vista County Is Now Home To Four Cases Of Bird Flu
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza continues to spread as the tenth flock has been confirmed in Iowa.
The latest case was confirmed in another flock in Buena Vista County making it the fourth one for the county. According to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the county’s latest case was on a commercial turkey flock.
Around 35,500 turkeys will have to be put down to prevent the virus’s spread said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig.
So will we be seeing an economic impact from these outbreaks?
The obvious answer is yes -- economic impact in the sense that producers have been impacted -- their productivity, their revenue, and the supporting entities around them.
However, it's unknown the impact we will see this outbreak having on Iowa’s ag economy.
There has been an economic impact, it's too soon to be able to put a number to that. And certainly, we hope that we are able to curtail that as we get further into the spring.
The first case of Avian Influenza in Iowa this year was on March 1st. Since then, around 8.1 million birds have been put down to try to minimize the spread of the virus.
Since there has been a new case, the bird “lockdown” timer in Iowa has been reset to 30 days. During this time all live bird exhibits at fairs and other live bird gatherings have been canceled.
The order went into effect last week and will be in place for at least 30 days. It will continue to be in place until there has been a 30-day period without any confirmed cases of HPAI in domesticated poultry in the state.