NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Tennessee's poultry industry may have dodged a billion dollar bullet, but nearly two dozen other states haven’t been so fortunate.
Poultry producers in 21 states have been forced to destroy about 50 million birds infected by an avian flu . Left unchecked, the disease can wipe out an entire flock in less than a week.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture recently sent 3 staff members to help out in Minnesota, one of the state’s hardest hit by the epidemic. State Veterinarian Charlie Hatcher says “devastating” is the word those staff members used to describe what they saw there.
Tennessee hasn’t seen any cases to date, but the disease has been reported in neighboring Arkansas. Dr. Hatcher is also worried that migrating birds may bring the flu into Tennessee this fall.
“The risk is that migratory waterfowl will start to come south starting as early as September and West Tennessee has got a pretty good area that will be affected by that migration.”
Tennessee flocks are being tested extensively now and a new set of more stringent regulations governing the state's billion dollar poultry industry will go into effect August 1.
Dr. Hatcher is asking the public to notify the state anytime they find dead birds so that they can be tested.
The bird flu isn’t a threat to people or the food supply, but has caused a sharp rise in poultry and egg prices.