Long Island farm forced to euthanize more than 100,000 ducks after bird flu detected
A commercial poultry farm on Long Island, New York, is being forced to kill thousands of ducks after health officials detected cases of bird flu.
The owner of Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue -- about 66 miles west of New York City -- reportedly first saw signs that his flock was ill last week, according to the Suffolk County Department of Health. Tests confirmed the detection of bird flu on Jan. 17.
The farm, which is the last commercial duck farm on Long Island, was forced to cease operations and begin the process of euthanizing its entire flock of more than 100,000 ducks, according to ABC-owned station WABC. The process will reportedly take a little over a week.
"Unfortunately, when you have a situation like this where you have a flock that's infected, the remedy is to put the entire flock down," Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott told WABC.
As of Friday, no farm workers were reported ill and health officials have begun interviewing potentially exposed workers as well as providing testing and preventive medications to high-risk individuals, according to the release from the health department. Pigott told WABC the medications include Tamiflu and Tamivir.
The health department said it is also providing education to the farm owner on preventative measures such as proper hand hygiene and the use of appropriate personal protective equipment.
"The risk to public health is minimal as the virus at this point is not transmissible among humans," Pigott said in a statement. "A full investigation is underway because there is some potential for transmission of the H5N1 bird flu from the infected birds to individual farm workers who had high-risk exposures."
SCDH did not immediately reply to ABC News' request for comment. ABC News left a message requesting comment with Crescent Duck Farm.
Bird flu, or avian influenza, has been causing outbreaks in poultry and dairy cows in the U.S. with recent human cases among poultry and dairy workers.
Human cases have been diagnosed across the country since April 2024, with 67 confirmed in 10 states so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Thursday, no human cases have been reported in New York.
Most human cases have been mild with patients fully recovering. So far, just one death has been recorded in Louisiana in a patient over age 65 who had underlying medical conditions.
The CDC and other public health officials say there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission and the risk to the general public is low.
