Avian flu kills 50m US birds in 2022: govt - The Canberra Times

Avian flu has wiped out 50.54 million birds in the United States this year, making it the country's deadliest outbreak in history, US Department of Agriculture data indicates.

The deaths of chickens, turkeys and other birds represent the worst US animal-health disaster to date, topping the previous record of 50.5 million birds that died in an avian-flu outbreak in 2015.

The US outbreak, which began in February, infected flocks of poultry and non-poultry birds across 46 states, USDA data shows.

"Wild birds continue to spread HPAI throughout the country as they migrate, so preventing contact between domestic flocks and wild birds is critical to protecting US poultry," USDA chief veterinary officer Rosemary Sifford said.