April 17 (UPI) — A highly contagious avian flu had spread to more than 30 states by Saturday, but the risk to public health is low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed in a statement that the avian flu has spread to a commercial chicken flock in Lancaster County, Penn., and a domestic chicken flock in Utah County, Utah.
Pennsylvania and Utah are among more than 30 states where the bird flu, H5N1, has spread since January, CDC data shows.
While the virus spreads easily among birds with more than 27 million affected since January, according to CDC data, no human cases have been found in the United States.
The CDC previously announced that current strains lack the changes seen in previous strains that rose the risk for infection and severe illness.
“Based on past experience with earlier H5N1 bird flu viruses — and what is known about this group of viruses from existing epidemiologic and genetic sequence data — CDC believes the health risk to the general public is low,” CDC spokesperson Kate Grusich recently said in a statement to NBC News.
In England, one human case was reported to the World Health Organization in January of a person who raised birds, but the case “has remained clinically asymptomatic and is now considered to not be infectious,” the U.N. health agency said.
Still, the flu has affected consumers pocketbook since egg and poultry prices have increased. The average weekly price for large eggs was up 44% compared to the same time last year, the USDA reported Monday.
Wholesale poultry prices were up 4% in February, and the USDA has predicted that the prices could rise to between 9% and 12% later this year.
The University of Minnesota Raptor Center has advised people to take down backyard bird feeders and bird baths while the virus is circulating.
