Egg producer Cal-Maine Foods said Tuesday it had temporarily halted production at its Texas plant after discovering bird flu, forcing the culling of about 1.6 million laying hens.
The move comes amid growing concerns about the rapid spread of the deadly H5N1 avian flu strain among birds and mammals and just a day after Texas reported the second case of the strain in a human in the United States.
The company said it culled about 3.6% of its total flock last month, including 337,000 pullets, after its facility in Parmer Country, Texas, tested positive.
Cal-Maine said it was working with government officials and industry groups to limit the risk of future outbreaks.
Since 2022, 82 million American chickens, turkeys and other birds have been culled due to a deadly strain of the virus, which has spread to many corners of the world and has even been found on the frozen continent of Antarctica.
Cal-Maine said no eggs have been recalled because there is no risk of bird flu associated with eggs. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the flu cannot be transmitted through properly cooked eggs.
On Monday, Texas and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a case of bird flu in a person who had contact with dairy cows suspected of being infected with the virus, as the highly pathogenic flu spreads to new mammals, including dairy cows.
The USDA said in February that the country was about 18 months away from finding a vaccine for the current strain of bird flu.
The deadly strain has killed wildlife including a pair of dolphins, about 50,000 seals and sea lions and about half a million birds in South America since arriving in the region in 2022. (Reporting by Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
Tags: CalMaine Foods halts egg production Texas plant bird flu discovery April
