Largest egg producer in the USA temporarily stops production after bird flu is reported | Agribusiness

The largest egg producer in the USA temporarily halted its production at a factory in Texas on Tuesday (2), after cases of bird flu were reported in chickens.

Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets were killed after the disease was detected at a facility in Parmer, Texas. This amount represents 3.6% of the company’s total herd.

U.S. officials said the virus was also detected at a poultry facility in Michigan.

Cal-Maine’s announcement comes a day after state health officials said a person was diagnosed with bird flu after coming into contact with reportedly infected cows, and that the risk to the public remains low.

The human case in Texas marks the first known case globally of a person contracting this version of bird flu from a mammal, federal health officials said.

The first case of bird flu in Brazil occurred on May 15 and, since then, the country has 160 outbreaks of the disease. These cases, however, have so far only affected wild birds (157) – that is, those that live freely in nature – and subsistence birds (3) – that are raised in backyards, for example.

In Brazil, there is still no case of bird flu recorded in commercial poultry farms, places where the chickens and eggs that go to supermarkets are raised.

There are also no cases of bird flu recorded in humans here.

Since the first record of the disease in Brazil, on May 15, the focus of Brazilian producers and animal health agents has been to prevent the disease from reaching large farms in the country. If this happens, the losses could be numerous, as bird flu spreads very quickly among birds.

Currently, the Brazil is the main exporter of chicken meat in the world and the second largest global producer, behind the USA.