COLUMBUS, Ohio — Poultry farmers in Ohio are on high alert after neighboring states have detected the highly contagious avian flu in flocks of chicken and turkey.
The Associated Press reports 29,000 turkeys at one Indiana farm have already been killed. A second farm of 26,000 turkeys in Indiana is currently undergoing testing.
The USDA says a flock of chickens in Fulton County, Kentucky and a backyard flock of mixed-species birds have also had positive bird flu results.
The Ohio Poultry Association is closely monitoring what’s happening across stateliness.
“Ohio's poultry farmers are committed to protecting their flocks and we are now on an enhanced surveillance program looking for making sure that our birds are protected on a daily basis,” said Jim Chakeres, the executive vice president of the Ohio Poultry Association. “It's part of our biosecurity protocols, if you will, to protect our birds. We work with the other states, we work with poultry farmers in other states to make sure that we have those conversations. If there's a situation in one particular state, we avoid that, and we want to, again, protect our own flocks of the state. It's constant communication, that is what is key.”
Chakeres says it's too early to tell if this round of bird flu will impact prices of turkey and chicken.
“Demand for chicken is at record high levels, and we have the same supply chain issues that everyone else [has]. Getting product to stores, packaging materials… those are issues that we have to deal with, and it's like any other business or agricultural commodity in the world right now,” Chakeres said.
There is no evidence that avian flu can be spread through food, but Chakeres reminds everyone to thoroughly cook food to prevent other foodborne illnesses.
“At the end of the day, we take our mission very seriously producing that safe, wholesome, affordable food,” Chakeres added.