"Farms across California have had to euthanize several million chickens and ducks in recent weeks, as a wave of avian influenza threatens to upend national poultry and egg supplies.

While cases of the disease have been cropping up throughout the U.S., agricultural hubs in Northern California have endured the greatest losses over the past month.

“There’s economy of scale in commercial agriculture, including poultry,” Maurice Pitesky, an avian disease specialist at the University of California Davis (UC Davis) School of Veterinary Medicine, told The Hill.

“No pun intended — if you put your eggs all in one basket, the virus gets into a facility and then all the birds have to be euthanized, unfortunately,” Pitesky said."

Sharon Udasin reports for The Hill January 7, 2024. [2]