Nearly 1.8 million chickens are to be culled in Colorado after Governor Jared Polis (D) declared a state of emergency due to bird flu.
“Governor Polis verbally declared a disaster emergency on July 5, 2024, in response to an avian flu outbreak in a commercial poultry facility in Weld County, ensuring that the state can provide the support and resources needed for Colorado’s essential agriculture industry,” a press release states.
The declaration calls upon the State Emergency Operations Plan and directs the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to “take all necessary and appropriate State actions to assist with response, recovery, and mitigation efforts. Specifically, it unlocks the resources necessary to help affected poultry facilities respond to and contain outbreaks of avian flu.”
The facility where the outbreak occurred has not been named, according to the Colorado Sun.
American Faith reported that four million chickens were ordered to be culled in Iowa after coming into contact with bird flu.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship said at the time that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) “detected a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).”
The situation impacted “commercial layer chickens.”
Although wild birds can carry HPAI without “appearing sick,” according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, cases of HPAI in domestic birds may be “fatal.”
Iowa is the leading egg producer in the United States.
