Avian Flu Continues Ravaging the Poultry Industry in Mid-West

While Washington and Oregon had incidents with wild fowl and back yard poultry earlier this year, fortunately there weren’t any cases of avian influenza in commercial flocks — that isn’t the case in Iowa where Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley wants the USDA to step it up when it comes to the agency’s response to the avian influenza that is ravaging the poultry industry in Iowa.
Grassley: “There are now roughly 24 million birds that need to be de-populated at sites throughout Iowa. It is a very unfortunate situation but the reality is that quickly containing the virus on these farms will help it from spreading.”
Grassley sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack urging that ll possible resources be deployed to help contain the virus. Producers tell Grassley they are anxious about the slow place in destroying flocks and cleaning up buildings.
Grassley: Producers have conveyed to me that the current pace that the depopulation is occurring may not be fast enough. There is additional questions about how long the producers will need to leave their barns empty once the depopulation process is complete and sites are deemed free of this disease by testing so that it can be repopulated. The Department of Agriculture could calm a lot nerves fi they would answer to a few of these questions.”