An Iowa farm will
have to euthanize the survivors of an avian influenza outbreak in a flock of
5.3 million hens.
It’s by far the
biggest flock among the dozens across the United States that have been hit by
the H5N2 strain of avian influenza.
The farm in Osceala
County has 10 per cent of Iowa’s egg layers and about one per cent of the
national total.
Egg industry marketing experts say it's too early to
predict the impact on prices, but say it's unlikely to immediately cause a
spike or a shortage, because number of chickens that are to be euthanized is a
little more than 1 percent of the nation's egg layers.
