Two or three years ago there was an outbreak of Newcastle's disease in the poultry farms here in California. Millions of chickens were slaughtered. It was spread by illegal aliens smugglng in infected gamecocks from Mexico. The same people who were raising the smuggled in birds were also working at the poultry farms.
I've got no connection to the industry other than being a major consumer, but this is not a laughing matter and we've all been talking about it for years.
I'm not laughing, but I'm not that concerned about it either... not yet anyway.
The avian flu outbreaks in Delaware and Maryland last year were traced back to the live poultry sales in either NewYork or New Jersey. Most poultry grown here doesn't go to the live market - they go straight from the houses to the processing plants.
On a personal/human level I'm not terribly concerned about it - I'm extremely concerned when it comes to an economic standpoint, of course I've felt that way for 20 years.
Like most people that grow up in the big city, I never really paid much attention to where my food came from, or what was involved in getting it to me to cook it (except when I was cooking fish I had caught). Moving to an area where some of the stuff in the supermarkets comes from is a major eye opener.
If this doesn't mutate and poultry is not high on one's list of preferred foods, this is a non-issue. However, if you enjoy eating poultry - be preparred to find shortages and major hits to the wallet if it shows up.