Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper called the emergence of the virus at a commercial poultry facility “a serious threat to Georgia’s No. 1 industry and to the livelihoods of thousands of Georgians who earn their life in our state’s poultry industry.”
Georgia is the nation’s top broiler producer and the state’s industry is worth about $6.7 billion, according to a University of Georgia analysis based on data from 2022, the most recent available.
“We are working around the clock to mitigate any further spread of the disease and ensure that normal poultry operations in Georgia can resume as quickly as possible,” Harper added in a statement.
To contain the spread, the GDA announced that all state poultry exhibitions, shows, exchanges, meets and sales are suspended until further notice, effective immediately.
The affair was discovered after the producer On Wednesday, they noticed signs of bird flu in their flock, officials said. Samples were taken the next morning and the case was confirmed after testing Thursday by the Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network and Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory.
The Elbert County site where avian flu was detected had approximately 45,000 broiler breeders when the case was detected.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture deployed its state emergency management and agricultural response teams to the site “to conduct depopulation, cleaning, disinfection and disposal operations” Friday, that work continuing into the weekend.
All commercial poultry operations within a 6.2 mile or 10 kilometer radius have been quarantined, with surveillance testing for at least two weeks.
The state Department of Agriculture also asked poultry producers in a letter Friday to monitor flocks for signs of avian flu, move poultry indoors, use strict biosecurity practices and to immediately report unexplained deaths of their birds.
Mike Giles, president of the Georgia Poultry Federation, said the producers he represents are cooperating with state and federal authorities. Giles also stressed that the food supply remains secure.
“Before poultry is processed for human consumption, samples from each flock are collected and no food product is permitted into the supply chain for human consumption without first receiving test results demonstrating that the herds are healthy and safe for consumption,” Giles said in a statement. statement.
Even before this detection, robust monitoring and sampling protocols were in place to ensure that no food products from an infected farm entered the food supply chain.
Clinical signs of bird flu include birds becoming silent, not eating or drinking, having discolored combs and legs, or dying suddenly without signs of illness.
There have been 136 confirmed cases of the virus in wild birds in Georgia since the current outbreak began in 2022.
Georgia has had no confirmed cases of H5N1 in livestock or humans, but a flood of worrying news about the virus has poured in from other states.
Earlier this month, a patient in Louisiana died from H5N1, becoming the first death from the virus in the United States. California also recently declared a state of emergency in response to an explosive outbreak in dairy cattle. Meanwhile, scientists say there are signs the virus could evolve in ways that allow it to spread more easily to humans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the risk to humans from H5N1 is low, but public health officials worry the virus could turn into a pandemic.
