I have everything purchased for our Thanksgiving Dinner except walnuts and zucchini to make bread. I paid $1.89/lb for turkey, and I was able to get a small one. However, I had no idea about the Avian flu.
Bird flu kills close to a record number of poultry in the U.S.A near-record number of U.S. chickens and turkeys have died in this year's outbreak of avian flu, as a different form of the virus than farmers battled before has infected more wild birds that then transmit the disease, officials said.
More than 47 million birds have died due to infections and cullings. This has spurred export bans, lowered egg and turkey production, and contributed to record prices of the staples ahead of the U.S. holiday season. The outbreak exacerbates economic pain for consumers grappling with soaring inflation.
In 2015, 50.5 million birds died in the deadliest U.S. outbreak, the nation's worst animal-health event to date.
Farmers are fighting a subtype of the H5N1 strain of the virus that survived over the summer, when rising temperatures typically reduce avian flu, said Rosemary Sifford, chief veterinary officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The same subtype, known as the goose/Guangdong lineage, is spreading in Europe, she said in an interview. Europe is already suffering its worst avian flu crisis, with nearly 50 million poultry culled..................
..................Minnesota, the nation's top turkey-producing state, suffered infections in two commercial flocks in late August after going three months without cases, USDA data show. The state then saw more cases in September.
"Seeing a spike in August was not something that was expected," said Ashley Kohls, executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association.
After infections, it takes about six months to decontaminate farms and resume turkey production, Kohls said.
Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Corp (HRL.N), owner of the Jennie-O Turkey Store brand, said it expects avian flu to reduce its turkey production at least through March 2023..............
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-nears-record-poultry-deaths-bird-flu-virus-type-complicates-fight-2022-10-18/
