Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that, as part of New York State’s continued effort to combat the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), the Department of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) has issued a new Notice and Order for live bird markets that have not had a detection of HPAI in New York City and Westchester, Suffolk, and Nassau counties. The order requires those markets to sell down all inventory, complete cleaning and disinfection procedures, and remain closed for a period of five days after cleaning and disinfection. NBC 4 New York’s Jessica Cunnington reports.
All live poultry markets in New York City and some of its suburbs were ordered Friday to close for a week after the detection of seven cases of avian flu, which has also hit farms nationwide, led to the slaughter of millions of birds and driven up egg prices.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said there is no immediate threat to public health and that the temporary closure of bird markets in the city and its Westchester County and Long Island suburbs comes out of an abundance of caution. No cases of avian flu have been detected among humans in New York, officials said.
The order came after birds infected with the virus were found during routine inspections of live bird markets in the New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. The exact locations were not shared, though the state Department of Agriculture said the markets were "closely linked by distributors."
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Hochul said the markets must euthanize infected flocks.
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SIGN UP "I want to reiterate that people shouldn't be concerned. Let me be clear: There is no public health threat," said Hochul.
Apart from bird markets, there were also about a dozen Canada geese found dead in a Westchester County park that were later confirmed to have avian influenza. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, three ducks at the Queens Zoo have died as a result of the virus. Nine wild birds and three ducks at the Bronx Zoo have died after potential exposure to the virus as well; tests for those birds were pending Friday evening.
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The Wildlife Conservation said vulnerable bird species at their parks have since been moved to protected areas. Because there is little chance of people coming in contact with birds at the parks, or contracting the current strains of bird flu, the Wildlife Conservation Society has kept their parks open.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the virus poses low risk to the general public. The agency said there have been 67 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans in the U.S., with illnesses mild and mostly detected among farmworkers who were exposed to sick poultry or daily cows.
The first bird flu death in the U.S. was reported last month in Louisiana, with health officials saying the person was older than 65, had underlying medical problems and had been in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock.
In New York, live bird markets where the virus was detected have to dispose of all poultry in a sanitary manner, according to the state's order. Other bird markets that do not have cases will have to sell off remaining poultry, clean and disinfect and then remain closed for at least five days and be inspected by state officials before reopening.
"I’m in shock. My boss too, and all my customers are in shock, you never see something like this," said Cristian Tacuri, the manager of Dominck's Poultry in Sleepy Hollow, one of the markets shuttered by the order.
Tacuri said he wasn't sure if they'd recover, due to the length of the shutdown.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has been spreading among wild birds, poultry, cows and other animals. Officials have urged people who come into contact with sick or dead birds to wear respiratory and eye protection and gloves when handling poultry.
More than 156 million birds nationwide have been affected by the outbreak, many at large farming operations that have had to slaughter their entire flocks.
