Arizona officials have confirmed the first cases in the Southwest of a bird flu that has led to the deaths of 37 million birds on commercial farms in the central and eastern U.S.
FILE - A bird lands on the top of the net behind home plate during a spring training baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Phoenix. Arizona officials have confirmed the first cases in the Southwest of a bird flu that has led to the deaths of 37 million birds from commercial farms in the central and eastern U.S.
But it is a concern, according to Glenn Hickman, president and CEO of Hickman Family Farms, one of the largest egg producers in the Southwest. Hickman operates four chicken ranches in Arizona, one in California and two in Colorado. Arizona Game and Fish officials have been closely monitoring for the disease, which had been no closer than Colorado before this week's announcement, by responding to all calls of dead birds.
Justice-Allen said a major concern is backyard flocks of chickens, which are allowed in parts of metro Phoenix. The disease has been found in many homeowner flocks across the country. , much more so than the nation's last bird flu outbreak detected in 2014. That outbreak cost more than 50 million domestic poultry.