State orders birds destroyed, quarantined in response to avian flu in Lancaster County
The state is euthanizing 1.4 million birds on a poultry farm in Lancaster County where avian influenza was found in chickens over the weekend, and established a 6.2-mile quarantine encompassing 162 poultry farms in the heart of Pennsylvania’s $7.1 billion poultry industry.
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding on Monday provided an update on the state’s response to Saturday’s announcement about the confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
“The heart of the poultry industry in Pennsylvania is in Lancaster County,” Redding said.
Of the 10,361 commercial and backyard poultry operations in the state, 1,677 are located in that county, he said.
Redding said 103 commercial and 162 total poultry operations, including the infected farm in East Donegal Township, are inside the 6.2-mile quarantine zone, where strict testing is required before any poultry products from those farms can be shipped to market.
Lessons the state learned from an avian flu outbreak in 1983 and 1984, as well as lessons other states learned from an outbreak in 2015 and 2016 and lessons from 28 other states with outbreaks this year, have been weaved into Pennsylvania response plan and biosecurity measures, he said.
Pennsylvania’s three animal health laboratories analyzed nearly 200,000 samples for avian influenza last year. The laboratories make up the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System, which was created after the 1983-84 outbreak, and have the capacity to test many more samples if necessary.
Other farms in the quarantine zone must obtain a permit from the Department of Agriculture and test their poultry for the virus 24 and 48 hours before shipping, a department official said.
That testing is important in order to maintain consumer confidence in poultry products from the state and allows poultry to be shipped to other states, Redding said.
He said 26,000 jobs in the state are directly or indirectly connected to the poultry industry.
Properly cooked poultry and eggs are safe to eat, he said. Citing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Redding said avian influenza does not present an immediate public health concern, and no human cases of the virus have been detected in the United States.
“If it’s in commerce, it’s safe,” Redding said, about commercial poultry products.
Avian influenza is spread when domestic or wild birds come in contact with the waste from infected wild birds. Department officials said poultry operations should keep birds away from areas frequented by wild birds, limit access to poultry houses, and disinfect boots and equipment used in operations.
Saturday’s discovery of the virus comes after four ducks found at Kahle Lake, located along the Clarion-Venango county border, and a bald eagle found in Chester County tested positive in March.
