Photo: Madison Rogers/WBZ NewsRadio
TOPSFIELD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — State agricultural officials detected cases of avian flu in Essex County, Massachusetts this month, prompting the creation of a "Poultry Control Zone."
The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources’ (MDAR) Division of Animal Health said last week that Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) was detected in non-commercial, backyard poultry in Essex County.
"Birds on the affected premises exhibited clinical signs consistent with HPAI, and samples tested positive for the disease," MDAR said.
HPAI was also detected in flocks in Essex County last month.
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In response, MDAR created a control area covering the following Essex County communities: Amesbury, Groveland, Haverhill, Merrimac, Newburyport, Salisbury, and West Newbury.
"Live poultry or hatching eggs that need to move into, within, or out of the Control Zone will require a permit from the MDAR," the department said.
State officials have not said when the restrictions will be lifted, leaving local agricultural businesses waiting with baited breath and keeping a close eye on their bottom line.
"We haven’t seen a huge drop because of it in sales or anything, but it is something that based on the region, and this region definitely gets hit worse than any other region I work in, it is definitely something forefront in people’s minds," Poulin Grain feed specialist Sarah McEachern told WBZ NewsRadio Friday.
McEachern said because of the control zone put in place, some people will forego getting chicken hatchlings this year. That is not good news for Essex County Co-Op. Although the Topsfield-based supply store is not inside the control zone, it serves a lot of people who are.
"We sell feed, shavings, daily products that they need to take care of and raise chickens," said General Manager Wesley Leavitt. "So yeah, it kind of affects sales for sure."
Leavitt said he is waiting to hear from suppliers in the western part of the country about whether they will be shipping them any chicken hatchlings at all during the restrictions.
"We find out week by week and communicate with each other, and then if they can ship, then we can get and sell," Leavitt said. "So it’s kind of a waiting game, unfortunately, in some aspects."
WBZ's Kendall Buhl reports.
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