A duck farm in New York had to euthanize approximately 100,000 ducks after a bird flu outbreak impacted the facility.
Crescent Duck Farm is one of the last remaining commercial duck farms in Long Island.
The family-owned farm has operated for over 100 years.
A public health official said the entire flock had to be killed for public safety.
Crescent Duck Farms, Long Island’s last duck farm and a favorite of NYC chefs, has been hit with bird flu. It has to cull its entire flock of nearly 100,000 birds. https://t.co/PdJUa5FGHW
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) January 23, 2025
“You constantly monitor your flock − three times a day. One day things looked unusual. I noticed a few lethargic birds that didn’t seem right,” Crescent Duck Farm President Doug Corwin said, according to USA TODAY.
“It’s my legacy. I think we’re kind of iconic, considering we are what Long Island was known for. And I just don’t want it to end this way,” he added.
WATCH:
A bird flu outbreak has hit Long Island's last commercial duck farm, forcing the k*lling of over 100,000 ducks.
The H5N1 virus, which has the potential to spread to farm workers, has brought the farm’s operations to a complete halt.
The farm is now under investigation as… pic.twitter.com/0w7AuI4HC1
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) January 24, 2025
Per USA TODAY:
But the entire flock has to be killed for public safety, Suffolk County Health Commissioner Gregson Pigott told the station.
“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,” he said.
Last week the bird flu reached a northeastern Georgia poultry plant, marking the fifth positive HPAI case in the state and the first case at commercial poultry operation, state officials confirmed.
The case was located a facility in Elbert County, the Georgia Department of Agriculture confirmed Friday, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“This is the first confirmed HPAI case in a commercial poultry operation in Georgia, and the fifth detection in the state of Georgia. As a result of this detection, effective immediately, all in-state poultry exhibitions, shows, swaps, meets, and sales are suspended until further notice,” the Georgia Department of Agriculture stated.
NEW – First case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) detected in Georgia; emergency officials suspend all in-state poultry sales — Bloomberg
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 18, 2025
WABC reports:
Crescent Duck Farm is family owned and has operated in Suffolk County since 1908. For owner Doug Corwin, it’s the loss of an entire life’s work.
Eyewitness News profiled the farm back in 2019, but since then, the COVID pandemic happened and the concern now is that bird flu doesn’t somehow trigger another pandemic.
It will take about a week to euthanize all those ducks.
ADVERTISEMENT“And if this disease mutates like in a factory farm to infect workers, to infect humans, to get human-to-human transmission, we’re looking at the next pandemic,” said John Di Leonardo with Humane Long Island.
Health officials are reminding people that so far there has been no human-to-human spread, but officials are still taking precautions in Aquebogue
“We’re gonna test them for H5N1, and we’re also gonna offer what they call prophylactic measures, in this case Tamiflu and Tamivir,” Pigott said.
