Poultry joins red meat shortages

Poultry veterinarians in Minnesota believe an outbreak of avian flu has spread between farms, indicating the implementation of a U.S. strategy to contain the deadly bird disease failed in at least some cases.

Virulent H5 avian influenza strains have spread to 14 states in five months and affected about 26 million birds in the worst outbreak of the disease in U.S. history, according to the USDA. Officials believe this is a new strain and there is no immunity with in the flocks. If a flock is infected, mortality is 90%.

Wild birds are thought to be carriers of the flu virus, which can be tracked onto poultry farms by people or trucks that come into contact with contaminated feces. It is being debated that the virus can also be transferred on windblown items.

This outbreak follows on the heels of the PED virus (porcine epidemic diarrhea virus from China) that killed 10 million swine and interrupted breeding cycles.

Fortunately swine and poultry production can attain several generations per year, rebounding more quickly. Red meat production is usually one generation per year. It is estimated that the beef shortage is 1.8 million head and sheep shortage is 1.5 million head in the U.S.

However, producers of poultry believe mortality with this incidence of Virulent H5 avian influenza will not leave time to meet turkey demands in November. Egg prices could double by fall. A dozen Grade A eggs could reach $3 later this year if, as expected, 20 million chickens — or about 7 percent of the U.S. egg-laying chicken population — are killed by the virus.