Posted on 10/13/2023 6:10:57 AM PDT by Red Badger
Minnesota has been hit with a devastating bird flu outbreak as the state prepares to provide much of the nation with turkeys for Thanksgiving.
On Wednesday, officials announced Minnesota’s first major outbreak of bird flu in 2023.
Minnesota is America’s largest producer of turkeys.
State officials said Wednesday that a flock of 140,000 turkeys was killed at a Meeker County farm.
The cull was commenced to mitigate the further spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), according to the Star Tribune.
HPAI, or bird flu, has seen a terrifying level of spread around the globe in the last few years.
Some 58 million birds were killed in 2022 thanks to ongoing outbreaks of the virus, the Tribune notes.
State veterinarian Dr. Brian Hoefs said turkey farmers are repeatedly battling bird flu outbreaks in Minnesota.
According to Dr. Hoefs, the most recent outbreak is the largest to hit the state all year.
“Unfortunately, HPAI seems to keep popping up during the seasonal migrations in Minnesota,” Hoefs said.
The outbreak and the resulting cull are causing concerns that turkey supplies and prices will be impacted in the run-up to Thanksgiving.
People are being urged to buy turkeys earlier to avoid disappointment.
Minnesota lost more than 4 million birds, mostly turkeys, to bird flu last year, according to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.
Willmar-based Jennie-O Turkey Store and its suppliers were hit especially hard last year.
“It is, unfortunately, a global animal disease and we’re going to have to continue to manage it the very best we can,” Jennie-O President Steve Lykken said last month following an event at the company’s Montevideo operation.
“Biosecurity for us is tantamount in everything we do.”
There are at least 18 known subtypes of influenza viruses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Many are continuing to spread out of control.
The rapid spread has led to some nations calling for the full vaccination of all poultry, according to MedicalXpress.
In April, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that at least one person had died after contracting H3N8 in China.
A study published back in May found that the H5N1 variant has undergone a “rapid evolution” since first being identified in 1996.
Multiple international agencies issued a warning in July about how quickly H5N1 is spreading.
The warnings suggest that it could be a risk to humans if it carries on as is.
In Chile, some 9,000 sea lions, penguins, otters, porpoises, and dolphins have reportedly died of bird flu since the start of 2023, MedicalXpress notes.
However, this figure has been called into question.
The rapid spread has led to some nations calling for the full vaccination of all poultry, according to MedicalXpress.
One way, or, another……..
Lock it Down!…
Mandatory masking, and kill all birds…
They’ll have us all catching pigeons and cooking them on a stick over a fire in another couple dozen Thanksgivings.
I eat elk and grass fed lamb.
How convenient for the billionaire globalist depopulationists.
Chickens should have gotten the vax when the sheep did. 😳
I would be fine without turkey at Thanksgiving. In fact, I would prefer it. Never much of a fan of turkey to begin with (turkey lunchmeat is a different story). There are a lot better and definitely a lot easier foods to cook.
We do, too!
And, Bison.
No vax for them. Tasty and healthy.
DOKATA AND UTAH TOO. And this Gene editing can make chickens resistant to bird flu
The gene, known as ANP32A, provides the instructions that tell chicken cells how to make a protein that flu viruses rely on to successfully hijack cells. Disrupting the avian virus’s ability to commandeer the protein stopped most genetically edited birds from getting infected.
Ideally genetic editing would completely stop the virus from replicating inside the animals, so it can’t pose a risk to birds, or people, at all. But in the new study, some edited chickens still got infected, meaning the technique isn’t yet 100 percent effective.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/gene-editing-chicken-resistant-bird-flu
Ham, chicken, pork roast, beef roast all GOOD!...............
I’ve ignored all bird, swine and bat flu warnings over the decades. I even ignored Covid, until they forced our hands.
I’ll ignore this one.
FWIW, I’ve never been impacted by any of them.
More and more, my wife and I just grow our own food.
I doubt many in Minnesota celebrate Thanksgiving anymore. They probably celebrate some kind of indigenous bullschidt.
RAMA-LAMA-Ding-Dong..........................
How convenient.
This may be a stupid question but is the flu spread through the meat? Seems like the perfect time to take the birds, prep them and freeze them before Thanksgiving.
The fear is the flu will kill the livestock en masse.
The transmittal to humans is also a concern...............
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.