SUFFOLK COUNTY, L.I. (WCBS 880) — State and federal authorities are urgently responding to a flock of birds on Long Island that were discovered to have a strain of the highly contagious bird flu.
A “small, non-commercial backyard flock” of eight non-poultry birds in Suffolk County tested positive and confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New York State Department of Agriculture on Saturday.
"State officials quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the properties will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the flock will not enter the food system," the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement.
A biosecurity response will be launched by state and federal authorities, officials said, which includes testing and surveillance in surrounding areas.
The highly contagious disease is often fatal for chickens but human infections with bird flu are rare and occur when an individual has prolonged exposure to sick or dead birds, according to the CDC. When infections happen in humans, they are often fatal.
Though the federal statement doesn't make it clear which strain of the bird flu was identified in the Long Island birds, this week, the USDA said that the Eurasian H5 strain has been recently discovered in the United States.
Bird flu has also been found in commercial flocks in Indiana and Kentucky and in a Virginia backyard flock this year as well as in wild birds across at least nine states.
So far, there have been no human cases and the CDC said they consider the recent outbreaks to be low risk to the general public.
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