FILE: Free range chickens outdoors in early morning light on an organic farm.
Mint Images/Getty Images/Mint Images RFAn outbreak of avian flu is hitting the California poultry industry hard. Since the outbreak first reached California in October, it’s killed nearly 5.5 million birds across the state and 1.15 million birds in Sonoma County alone, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These deaths reflect both birds killed by the virus and those euthanized to prevent further disease spread.
This strain of avian flu, called highly pathogenic avian influenza, was first detected in the United States in February 2022, but California was left relatively unscathed last year.
“Now this year, it’s all changed in the last two or three months,” Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation, told SFGATE. “The West Coast has been hit.”
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In early December, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency to help mitigate the effects of the disaster. A total of nine farms in the county have detected outbreaks, according to the the USDA. While the USDA does not share the names of the affected farms in its outbreak detection data, Petaluma’s Liberty Ducks, a duck farm popular with Bay Area Michelin-starred restaurants, has publicly shared that its birds tested positive for the virus. A GoFundMe for the farm has raised more than $183,000. Petaluma’s Sunrise Farms has also shared that it lost thousands of egg-laying chickens to the flu.
Most recently, on Dec. 28, two commercial egg farms in Sonoma County and one in Marin County detected outbreaks of avian flu, with a total of 242,300 birds affected. The losses are financially devastating for farms but also have the potential to trickle down to consumers.
“These are very popular Sonoma businesses, and their eggs are sought after,” Mattos said. “So their losses may affect some Sonoma County stores.”
However, California egg prices are steady as of Jan. 3, according to the USDA.
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“We don’t expect statewide egg prices to be affected as much as Sonoma County and possibly the Bay Area,” Mattos added.
Last winter, egg prices soared nationally due to an outbreak of bird flu, an increase in holiday demand and higher production costs, according to USA Today. If egg prices do increase again this year, it’s unlikely they’ll be as high as last winter because the egg inventory has rebounded, Auburn University professor Dennis Brothers told USA Today.