المملكة: For the first time… bird flu strikes a poultry facility in Georgia

For the first time since the outbreak of bird flu across the United States in 2022, the virus struck the farms of a poultry producer in the state of Georgia, which is the first in chicken production in the country.
Last Friday, the state Department of Agriculture announced the discovery of a case of highly contagious avian influenza at a commercial poultry production facility in Elbert County, about 165 kilometers northeast of Atlanta.
The Ministry stopped all poultry exhibitions, markets and sales.

The virus was detected 4 times

The virus has been detected four times in Georgia, but only among previously small household flocks, including among 13 chickens and ducks earlier this month in Clayton County south of Atlanta.
“This represents a serious threat to Georgia’s No. 1 industry and the livelihoods of thousands of state residents who depend on the poultry industry for their livelihoods,” Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said in a statement.

On Friday, the Georgia Department of Agriculture Emergency Management dispatched state agricultural response teams to the site “to conduct culling, cleanup, disinfection and disposal operations.”

The presence of the virus in dozens of farms

Nationally, the virus was detected in 84 commercial and domestic flocks over the past month, with 10.7 million birds in those locations, according to the latest data published online by the USDA.
The presence of the virus has also been confirmed on dozens of dairy farms.