Live poultry markets ordered shut in New York because of avian flu outbreak

NEW YORK — 

All unrecorded poultry markets successful New York City and immoderate of its suburbs were ordered Friday to adjacent for a week aft the detection of 7 cases of avian flu, which has besides deed farms nationwide.

Governor Kathy Hochul said that determination was nary contiguous menace to nationalist wellness and that the impermanent closure of vertebrate markets successful the metropolis and its Westchester County and Long Island suburbs came retired of an abundance of caution. No cases of avian flu person been detected among humans successful New York, officials said.

The birds infected with the microorganism were recovered during regular inspections of unrecorded vertebrate markets successful the New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the microorganism poses debased hazard to the wide public. The bureau said determination person been 67 confirmed cases of vertebrate flu successful humans successful the U.S., with illnesses mild and mostly detected among farmworkers who were exposed to sick poultry oregon sick dairy cows.

The archetypal vertebrate flu decease successful the U.S. was reported past period successful Louisiana, with wellness officials saying the idiosyncratic was older than 65, had underlying aesculapian problems and had been successful interaction with sick and dormant birds successful a backyard flock.

In New York, unrecorded vertebrate markets wherever the microorganism was detected person to dispose of each poultry successful a sanitary manner, according to the state's order. Other vertebrate markets that bash not person cases volition person to merchantability disconnected remaining poultry wrong 3 days, cleanable and disinfect their operations, and past stay closed for astatine slightest 5 days and beryllium inspected by authorities officials earlier reopening.

Ahead of the mandatory disposal bid for markets with nary cases, employees astatine La Granja, a halal-certified poultry marketplace successful Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood, raced to merchantability the remaining inventory: astir 200 unrecorded chickens of antithetic varieties, on with turkeys, quail, ducks, roosters, pigeons and rabbits.

Any remaining animals would beryllium slaughtered and fixed to employees and longtime customers, according to Jose Fernandez, the owner.

"We're going to suffer money, for now," helium said. "But the instrumentality is the law. They cognize what they're doing."

The H5N1 strain of vertebrate flu has been spreading among chaotic birds, poultry, cows and different animals. Officials person urged radical who travel into interaction with sick oregon dormant birds to deterioration respiratory and oculus extortion and gloves erstwhile handling poultry.

More than 156 cardinal birds nationwide person been affected by the outbreak, galore astatine ample farming operations that person had to slaughter their full flocks.

Despite increasing attraction connected the avian flu, New York City's poultry markets appeared to beryllium doing brisk concern Friday.

Outside the Wallabout Poultry marketplace successful Brooklyn, a enactment of customers took numbers and picked their chickens, which employees snatched from crowded cages, weighing them upside down, earlier taking them to a backmost country to beryllium slaughtered.

"I'm not disquieted astir immoderate vertebrate flu," said Stan Tara, 42, of Brooklyn, arsenic helium purchased a ample chickenhearted for $22.50. "It's the aforesaid arsenic you bargain from the supermarket. A small much expensive, but astatine slightest it's fresh."

Some carnal rights groups, meanwhile, questioned the intent of a authorities bid that allowed the markets to proceed selling fowl, alternatively than shutting them down immediately.

"The nationalist is going into markets wherever nary 1 knows if determination are outbreaks of avian flu, past taking location dormant birds that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium infected," said Edita Birnkrant, enforcement manager of NYCLASS, which has agelong raised alarms astir conditions wrong the city's astir 70 unrecorded carnal markets. "It's ludicrous."

U.S. ovum prices are apt to stay precocious past Easter and good into 2025, mostly due to the fact that of avian flu, according to CoBank, a Denver-based supplier of loans and different fiscal services to the agriculture sector.

The highly contagious microorganism has affected astir 100 cardinal egg-laying hens successful the U.S. since 2022.

But CoBank said different factors are besides causing proviso constraints and driving up prices, specified arsenic skyrocketing user request for eggs successful caller years. Fast-growing meal and brunch chains are besides eating up supplies.