Bird flu ravages more than 10 million Ohio chickens in last 30 days, USDA reports
Roughly 10.3 million Ohio chickens have been impacted by bird flu in the last 30 days, making up more than a third of the national outbreak's recent victims as the disease continues to ravage livestock around the country.
The birds affected have either died from the flu or have been infected. The infected chickens typically do not live longer than 48 hours after contracting the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ohio has been experiencing the highest levels of bird flu outbreaks in the nation, The Dispatch previously reported. Roughly 21.1 million birds in Ohio have been affected since the inception of the outbreaks in February 2022. That means nearly half of that number has come in the last month alone.
A Feb. 7 U.S. Department of Agriculture report said Ohio has lost 39% of its egg-laying population to the bird flu.
The H5N1 virus has also been detected in cattle in Ohio, and across the country, has reduced milk output and pushed up egg prices by wiping out millions of hens.
More: Ohio leads bird flu cases. What will happen to egg prices? Can you raise your own chickens?
On Wednesday, the Ohio Department of Health reported the first human case of bird flu in the state in a Mercer County man who works on a farm. He came into contact with infected dead poultry. Mercer County is located in west central Ohio along the border with Indiana.
More: Ohio Department of Health reports first human case of bird flu in the state
In Columbus, the outbreak prompted the Columbus Zoo on Feb. 1 to move certain birds indoors and to pause feeding raw poultry to their animals as a safety measure.
Samantha Hendrickson is The Dispatch's medical business and health care reporter. She can be reached at shendrickson@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio loses more than 10 million chickens to bird flu in past month
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