Nebraska Joins Growing Number of US States Hit by Bird Flu

A highly pathogenic bird flu strain has hit a commercial egg-laying farm with 1.7 million chickens in Dixon County, the US state of Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) Director Greg Ibach said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On May 8, 2015, University of Illinois Department of Agriculture and Consumer Economics said in a report that the 2014-2015 outbreak of bird flu, which has already hit 16 US States, is the largest on record.

“Unfortunately, Nebraska has joined a long list of states currently dealing with highly pathogenic avian influenza,” Ibach said on Tuesday. “The goal is to quarantine the flock and attempt to control and contain the virus as quickly as possible.”

Iback explained the NDA is working closely with the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Nebraska state partners to ensure that proper protocols are in place to address the situation.

The NDA said the Nebraska egg-laying farm has been quarantined and the birds on the property will be killed.

Bird flu is caused by a highly pathogenic virus, which does not usually infect humans. However, nearly 650 cases of human cases of bird flu have been reported from 15 countries since 2003, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. About 60 percent of those infected died.