According to Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, the state is approaching 29 million egg-laying hens that have contracted the Avian Influenza.

He points out that about 75 sites have confirmed that they have the disease and Iowa is approaching half of its egg-laying hens have been killed.  Naig says the Avian Flu was transmitted to the state by migratory water fowl that fly up and down the Mississippi Flyway.  He adds that they still don’t know how the disease moves from site to site or how it gets into an egg production or poultry facility.

However, based off previous bird-related diseases, Naig believes that the spread of the Avian Flu could slow down with the help of drier weather conditions and warmer temperatures.

“The science behind that is that the drier, warmer temperatures will help contain the virus.  It doesn’t survive as long in the wild between sites for instance.  So, that’s been proven through the science that this is a good way to start to halt the spread.”

He states that since the disease is considered a foreign animal disease and it has trade implications, that the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been involved in a partnership with Iowa since the beginning.  Naig notes that the USDA are the ones that do the work with the infected sites.

Once a solution is figured out, Naig believes it will be a long road to recovery for the number one egg producer in the country.

“Honestly, it’s going to be a site-by-site basis, but it could be several months before some of these sites are even able to really start thinking about repopulating their facilities.  So this is going to be a long recovery.”

He says the Avian Flu is in 18 Iowa counties.