With 166,000,000 total birds affected, bird flu has been wreaking havoc in the avian world, and these outbreaks could have detrimental effects. Bird flu, also called H5N1 or avian influenza, is a virus that is highly contagious to birds. The H5N1 virus was first identified in 1996, and there have been many outbreaks since then. It has primarily affected poultry, but there have also been outbreaks in dairy cows, along with some recent human cases.
JoAnn Pfeiffer, Federal Hocking Ag teacher, has some predictions about repercussions soon to come.
“So the price of eggs will definitely rise,” Pfeiffer stated.
Pfieffer’s prediction stems from the fact that more than 35 million birds have been killed due to bird flu outbreaks in commercial flocks this year. As egg prices are already high, this is no good news. We can only hope that the prices will come down soon. Unfortunately, Pffeifer thinks it will be more of a long term solution.
“It might take a couple years to get back to the way it was before,” Pffeiffer said.
Small farmers like Reneé Ripple are raising their own chickens to make sure they have quality food on the table.
“The bird flu is a dire threat that needs to be taken seriously. I have my own hens and meat birds so that I can feed my family in a healthy way,” Ripple said.
Federal Hocking freshman and chicken owner, Piper King, has also weighed in on the situation.
“At first I didn’t think that the bird flu was going to be that bad, until the fair announced that chickens might not be able to show at the fair. This means we’re spending time and money for no reason,” King explained.
On the bright side, although there have been 70 human cases reported in the US, the public health risk is low. There has been no evidence of the virus spreading human-to-human.
While there isn’t much we can do about the rise of prices, there are still ways to combat the virus. If you see sick or dead birds, call the Ohio Department of Health.
