Bird flu in Michigan

I'm going to continue the coverage of epidemics that started with yesterday's MERS outbreak in South Korea by examining another outbreak in the news, bird flu.  That arrived in Michigan this week as Wotchit News reported in U.S. Bird Flu Outbreak Reaches Michigan.

Michigan on Monday said Canadian geese in the state tested positive for a lethal strain of bird flu, bringing the worst outbreak of the disease in U.S. history to a 21st state. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, three young geese collected in Sterling Heights, Michigan, about 20 miles north of Detroit, were infected with the highly pathogenic H5N2 flu strain. Director Keith Creagh said the state is now focusing on preventing the spread of the disease to poultry. According to the department, Michigan is the 21st state to confirm a case of bird flu since late 2014 and the sixth to detect it only in wild or free-ranging birds.

Another Wotchit News clip on the same story included these chilling details.

Nationwide, more than 46 million chickens and turkeys have been killed by the disease or culled to prevent its spread. Most are in Iowa, the top U.S. egg-producing state, and Minnesota, the nation's top turkey-producing state.

Follow over the jump for the responses to this discovery.

The results of bird flu have been predictable--shortages and higher prices.  Those and a short-term solution were reported today by the Associated Press in Egg Shortage Prompts US to Start Egg Imports.

The US is set to allow egg product imports from the Netherlands, the first European egg imports to the US in a decade. It's because of an egg shortage caused by the bird flu outbreak that killed millions of egg-producing hens.

Fox 47 in Lansing describes the possible consequences of bird flu in Michigan, as well as ways to prevent its spread, in Bird Flu in State Could Have Devastating Effect.

More warnings and tightened security at Michigan's egg and poultry farms, after the first confirmed cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

Another response has been to cancel poultry and waterfowl shows, as WOOD-TV reported last week before the flu was discovered in the state.

Michigan has banned poultry and waterfowl shows at fairs and elsewhere to fight the spread of bird flu.

Not only is the disease affecting the food supply, it's messing with people's education and entertainment.  If bird shows were a bigger deal, there would be a bigger outcry.  I can imagine the people in rural areas and animal fans in urban areas are not happy about this, although I'm sure they understand why.