LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The state is doing a good job of managing the bird flu outbreak, that’s according to Dr. J. J. Goicoechea, director of the Nevada Department of Agriculture.
The outbreak played a major factor in the recent spike in egg prices across the country.
“New no new infections in the State of Nevada. We have two operations under quarantine. We have our large facility in Nye County that’s the B3.13 and then we have one remaining in Northern Nevada. That is the D11 variant,” said J. J.
The current outbreak began last spring. So far, the state has had at least a dozen confirmed cases of bird flu in dairy cattle herds and a farm worker who has since recovered. There hasn’t been human-to-human transmission of the virus.
“Risk to the public remains very, very low. We continue to monitor farm workers that are on these dairies that may be infected with avian influenza, especially in our dairy population. Again, in Nevada, that’s where we’ve seen the most of it,” he added.
He says the state will continue testing every week at dairy processing facilities.
“We’re also coming into the summer months. So, we’re not going to see that interaction with our wildlife and those big migrations as they may be impacting our farm animals. So, I do not, I do not want the public to panic, I think we’re in a great place.” he said.
The state also plans to reinstate the cage-free egg law in late June. It was temporarily suspended to help with the egg shortage, most of the new supply went to restaurants and resorts.
“We were able to increase the inventory in a fairly short amount of time and that has helped lower those prices over the last three months,” he noted. “Southern Nevada is almost a dollar and a half less per dozen than Northern Nevada right now, and that’s the result of where we’re sourcing our eggs for Southern Nevada.”
Federal health agencies are working to approve a vaccine to be used in poultry. The Trump Administration will invest $1 billion to combat the spread of bird flu.
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