The Iowa Department of Agriculture announce two new probable cases of the bird flu Thursday in Osceola and Cherokee County, bringing the number of overall cases to 37.
U-S Senator Joni Ernst says the Iowa delegation continues to be “in close contact” with the USDA and is encouraging the department provide as many resources as are necessary to help those chicken, egg and turkey producers hit by the bird flu. Ernst, a Republican, says she was able to talk first-hand with some of the Iowans who run egg-laying operations.
Ernst says it has been very tough on the operators who find out the bird flu has gotten into their operations, and that addressing the current outbreak is just part of the issue.
“We do have to figure out what is the underlying cause of this outbreak, where it’s coming from and how we prevent it in the future,” Ernst says. “So, that will be part of those ongoing discussions we have with those producers, with the ag secretary there in Iowa, along with that assistance that we hope to get from the USDA.”
Iowa is the largest egg-producing state in the country. The Osceola facility is a pullet farm — birds that grow into laying hens — with an estimated 100-thousand birds. The other new case in Cherokee County is a turkey farm and an estimate on the number of birds at the site is still pending. More than 20 million turkeys, chickens and ducks will have to be destroyed in Iowa after the facilities tested positive for the avian influenza.
