No new bird flu cases have been reported in nearly a week on commercial farms in Minnesota and Iowa, giving government officials, scientists and farmers hope that the worst United States outbreak of the bird flu is winding down, but not over.
As such, farms are focused on disposing of the poultry carcasses, disinfecting barns and preparing to restock their flocks.
But according to a report by the Associated Press, laboratories have continued to intensely study the virus in hopes of developing an effective vaccine, determining how it evaded biosecurity measures and establishing what can be done to prevent a repeat.
The frequency of new cases has slowed as temperatures in the Midwest rise — up to 90 degrees in Iowa and 70s and 80s in Minnesota. It follows scientists’ predictions that temperatures in the 70s and above would neutralize the H5N2 virus so it would no longer infect birds.
Nationally, 47 million birds died or had to be euthanized. Iowa lost more than 30 million birds, mostly egg-laying chickens, although 1 million turkeys also died. Minnesota lost nearly nine million birds, mostly turkeys; Nebraska was third with 3.8 million birds, mostly chicken.
#punch
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