Missouri Poultry Industry Scrambles To Contain Avian Flu

Joe Mueller, The Center Square Meat & Poultry March 18, 2022

Consumers have no health risk of getting avian flu if they eat poultry, but producers are anxious about the virus killing flocks and causing shortages and price increases.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Missouri is one of 13 states with commercial and backyard poultry flocks reporting infections with the highly pathogenic avian influenza A (HPAI). The Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) reported cases of HPAI in Stoddard, Bates, Jasper and Lawrence counties between March 3-9. Taiwan is temporarily banning imported poultry and beef products from Missouri and 11 other states, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Missouri is sixth in the nation in annual turkey production (16 million) and ninth in broiler chickens (291 million), according to MDA. A 2016 report by MDA found poultry and egg producers account for $1.4 billion or 30% of the state’s livestock market.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Center Square

Related Articles

Meat & Poultry

Embargoes From Past Avian Flu Outbreaks Reduced Demand for U.S. Chicken Meat

Matthew MacLachlan, Wendy Zeng, and Samantha Padilla, USDA Amber Waves Meat & Poultry June 9, 2022

On February 9, 2022, the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial turkey flock in Indiana. HPAI spreads rapidly, is transmittable across different species of birds, and is often lethal to infected birds. Since 2000, outbreaks of HPAI in the United States occurred in 2004 and again in 2014–15. More animals were lost in the 2014–15 outbreak than in any other infectious animal disease event in U.S. history. These events affected poultry commerce on a global scale, decimating international demand for U.S. poultry products. …