Cal-Maine Foods, largest producer of eggs in US, finds bird flu in chickens at Texas plant

The largest supplier of eggs in the United States halted production after chickens at a Texas plant tested positive for the highly contagious bird flu - the latest in a spike of cases across the nation, Report informs via USA Today.

Cal-Maine Foods on Tuesday announced chickens at its facility in Parmer County, in the state's southwestern panhandle, tested positive for pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) resulting in slaughter of nearly 2 million chickens − 1.6 million hens and 337,000 pullets (young hens).

The announcement less than 24 hours after the Centers for Disease Control reported a person in Texas had been infected with the virus after coming into close contact with dairy cattle and just over a week after sick dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas tested positive for the virus.

The culled Texas chickens represent about 3.6% of the company’s total flock as of Tuesday, the supplier wrote in a news release.

Production at the Texas facility temporarily ceased while the company follows the protocols prescribed by the US Department of Agriculture, the company said.

Headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi, Cal-Maine Foods is the largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the nation and said it sells most of its eggs in states across the Southwest, Southeast, Midwest and MidAtlantic.

The company said it "remains dedicated to robust biosecurity programs across its locations; however, no farm is immune from HPAI. HPAI is still present in the wild bird population and the extent of possible future outbreaks, with heightened risk during the migration seasons, cannot be predicted."

Cal-Maine Foods said it was working "to secure production from other facilities" to minimize disruption to its customers.