Cal-Maine Foods temporarily shuts Kansas facility hit by bird flu

[December 13, 2023]  (Reuters) -Egg producer Cal-Maine Foods said on Tuesday it had temporarily ceased production at a facility in Kansas after some of the flock tested positive for avian flu.

The company said highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) had affected about 684,000 laying hens, or nearly 1.6% of its total flock.

Cal-Maine said these detections do not present an immediate public health concern and are not a threat to the food supply, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

It also said that no known HPAI risk associated with eggs were currently in the market and no eggs have been recalled, adding that there were no positive tests for HPAI at any other company locations to date.

Shares of the company were down marginally at $48.80 in extended trading following the news.

More than 72.5 million chickens, turkeys and other birds have been wiped out since the U.S. avian flu outbreak began in February 2022, according to the USDA.

U.S. cases in commercial poultry flocks have increased since October 2023, with experts blaming wild birds for spreading the disease. Kansas had not reported an outbreak in a commercial flock since February 2023, U.S. data shows.

Other large egg-laying operations have also been hit. Ohio confirmed last week that a commercial layer farm with 2.6 million birds was infected and said the birds were being culled.

(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Shinjini Ganguli)

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