Avian Flu Outbreak Posing Threat to Ohio

The Avian Influenza outbreak in the United States is causing concern here in Ohio.

Although it hasn’t yet reached Ohio, the state banned poultry shows from the Ohio State Fair and county fairs as a precaution. Ohio State Representative, Brian Hill, said the Ohio Department Of Agriculture is continuing to watch this spread closely.

“With is being so close to us here, we’re very concerned that this fall with the fly patterns of the wild birds, which carry the flu, but are not susceptible to it, that Ohio’s next most dangerous time would be here late summer, on into the fall,” Hill said.

This epidemic has led to the death of over a million chickens and turkeys in the Midwest. Hill said if it reaches Ohio, it would result in higher meat and egg prices.

“Right now there’s not a vaccine available, so usually when it hits it’s 95-100 percent mortality rate, so there’s no commercial vaccines available, they’re working on all of those to try to come up with a way to vaccinate and prevent the spread of this disease,” Hill said.

The Avian Flu is spread from wild birds to domestic poultry, and poses no threat to humans.