“Dumping the birds there did not cause the cattle to become positive for influenza.”
Ottawa County Health Officer Adeline Hambley is assuring the board of commissioners the bird flu in the bodies of chickens disposed of in a county land fill is not the same strain as the virus that made cows sick in at least 2 county dairy herds.
“Where they were dumped is a huge dairy area.”
“They are able to genetically test the viruses and they are not the same strains.”
The chicken carcasses came from an infected flock at Ionia County based Herrbruck’s Poultry Ranch, where millions of birds were euthanized
“How many birds? A lot it is the largest egg producer in Michigan.”
“They didn’t have the proper conditions to dispose of the large number of birds by composting on their site some of those carcasses were disposed of here.”
But Hambley says the state will not bury infected birds bodies in Ottawa County again..
“That’s already been decided. Their concern is how many turkey farms we have. It was my understanding they would not be disposing in Ottawa County landfills because of that.”
