Monday, April 10, 2006
Ohio poultry farms build flu defense
VERSAILLES | Finding bird flu in the United States could spell trouble for Ohio’s egg industry, which ranks second only to Iowa’s nationwide.
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Within an hour’s drive of Dayton are the nation’s top two egg-producing counties, Darke and Mercer, whose egg, turkey and other poultry farms together generated $250 million in farm receipts in 2003.
Though a lethal strain of bird flu has yet to be detected in North America, Tim Weaver is taking precautions. He figures he’s spent $50,000 just to hire and provide transportation for a night watchman to keep thieves, animal-rights activists and potential disease-carrying trespassers away from his more than 4 million birds housed in barns longer than a football field.
The birds lay about half of the 2 billion eggs that Weaver Bros. Inc. markets each year.
“I’m concerned about the risk (of bird flu) to commercial poultry farms,” said Weaver, a third-generation egg producer. “That’s why we’ve raised our defenses.”
Weaver Bros. also recently began testing for bird flu through veterinarian Orville Thompson of Findlay, who for 15 years has gone to Weaver Bros.’ egg farms regularly to monitor the flocks’ health. He sends blood from the birds to Iowa for examination.
Mo Saif of Ohio State University’s agricultural center in Wooster is taking part in a $5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture project to prevent and control bird flu.
“It’s really an animal disease so far,” Saif said.
“But we can’t underestimate the possibility that this virus might change. If it does come to the United States, we’re going to have a lot of concern about human health, too — justifiably so.”