Dozens of birds infected by bird flu at NYC poultry market
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Another 150 birds at a Queens live poultry market have died due to a bird flu outbreak, according to the CDC.
This is the first case in New York City since early February when over 1,000 birds were infected.
Bird markets in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester were shut down for a week to do complete cleaning and disinfection procedures.
Those cases were discovered during routine inspections in Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn.
The new cases come less than 2 weeks since the Governor lifted the order on February 22nd.
There are no human cases of avian influenza, and the threat to the public is low.
The Department of Agriculture and Markets released the following statement:
"Following continued proactive surveillance of NYC's live bird markets, Department inspectors detected HPAI in two live bird markets in Queens. Results were later confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL). Both markets immediately closed and completed depopulation, cleaning, and disinfection, and will now remain closed for a period of five days. They will be allowed to reopen following an additional inspection. In order to protect impacted businesses and farms, the Department releases county-level information regarding HPAI detections and not the names of the businesses."
More than 166 million birds across the country have been slaughtered to contain the virus. Some 30 million egg layers have been wiped out just since January, significantly disrupting egg supplies. The Department of Agriculture's longstanding policy has been to kill entire flocks anytime the virus is found on a farm.
As a result, the number of egg layers has dropped nationwide by about 12% from before the outbreak to 292 million birds, according to a Feb. 1 USDA estimate, but another 11 million egg layers have been killed since then, so it's likely worse.
Retail egg prices had generally remained below $2 per dozen for years before this outbreak began. Prices have more than doubled since then, boosting profits for egg producers even as they deal with soaring costs.
RELATED | Long Island farm forced to kill entire flock of 100,000 ducks amid bird flu outbreak
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
