Farm Progress America, October 23, 2024

Mike Pearson examines the latest HPAI outbreaks across the nation.

Two states have reported outbreaks recently. In Utah, 1.8 million birds and 800,000 birds in a commercial herd in Washington were depopulated.

Utah Department of Agriculture and Food are working together the APHIS to contain the virus and stop it from spreading.

Utah and Washington state officials are encouraging producers to tighten the biosecurity measures and eliminate external access due to migrating birds carrying the virus.

Beyond the poultry, the virus has been linked to more human cases including seven probable humans in California.

The CDC contends the chances of HPAI transmitting to humans is low. Most of the humans who have reported the illness have been involved with poultry or dairy cattle.

However, the virus could evolve and the CDC says monitoring the virus is essential.

One new trial in Minnesota is using lasers to fight against the spread of the virus with different lights. The lasers will keep birds away from poultry facilities and reduce the spread of disease including HPAI. It is being touted as a useful tool in biosecurity.

HPAI is a big challenge for agriculture with the virus now in livestock and humans.

Farm Progress America is a daily look at key issues in agriculture. It is produced and presented by Mike Pearson, farm broadcaster and host of This Week in Agribusiness .

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