A commercial poultry farm named Crescent Duck Farm, located in Aquebogue on Long Island, New York, is facing a devastating situation as health officials have uncovered several cases of bird flu among its flock.
This farm, which is notably the last remaining commercial duck farm on Long Island, has been forced into a severe response to the outbreak.
According to reports from the Suffolk County Department of Health, the owner of the farm noticed symptoms indicating that his flock was unwell just last week.
Following this initial observation, health authorities conducted tests that confirmed the presence of bird flu on January 17.
In light of the confirmed outbreak, the farm is now required to halt all operations and has commenced the heartbreaking process of euthanizing its entire flock of over 100,000 ducks.
The euthanasia process is expected to last slightly more than a week, which reflects the scale of the operation needed to ensure biosecurity and prevent the further spread of the virus.
Suffolk County Health Commissioner, Dr. Gregson Pigott, emphasized the gravity of the situation on WABC, stating, “Unfortunately, when you have a situation like this where you have a flock that’s infected, the remedy is to put the entire flock down.”
This decision arises from the need to contain the outbreak and safeguard both animal health and public safety.
As of the latest updates, there have been no reported illnesses among farm workers, which is a relief to the community.
Nevertheless, health officials are taking proactive measures by interviewing workers who may have been exposed to the virus.
They are also providing testing and preventive antiviral medications to individuals deemed to be at high risk of exposure.
These medications include well-known antiviral treatments such as Tamiflu and Tamivir, which are utilized to help mitigate the effects of influenza viruses.
The situation remains fluid, and health officials are closely monitoring developments to ensure both the health of the public and the surrounding poultry populations are maintained effectively.
Eyewitness News profiled the farm back in 2019, but since then, the COVID pandemic happened and the concern now is that bird flu doesn’t somehow trigger another pandemic.
It will take about a week to euthanize all those ducks.
“And if this disease mutates like in a factory farm to infect workers, to infect humans, to get human-to-human transmission, we’re looking at the next pandemic,” said John Di Leonardo with Humane Long Island.
