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Business and Economic News
Ayana Archie, NPR

Bird flu has been detected at the largest chicken egg manufacturer in the U.S.

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Cases of eggs from Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., await to be handed out by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce employees at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 7, 2020.
Cases of eggs from Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., await to be handed out by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce employees at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 7, 2020.
Rogelio V. Solis/AP

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., the largest producer of fresh eggs in the U.S., has temporarily halted production at one of its facilities after bird flu was detected there, the company announced Tuesday.

The company lost about 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, or about 3.6% of its flock, as a result of the outbreak, it said. The virus was detected at a facility in Parmer County, Texas.

Cal-Maine Foods, which is based in Mississippi, said it will rely on other facilities in the meantime to "minimize disruption to its customers."

Earlier this week, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced that a man contracted bird flu through an outbreak of the disease among dairy cattle. He is the second person in the U.S. known to be infected with the virus.

The CDC says the likelihood of someone getting bird flu is very low, and that a person cannot contract it from eggs that are cooked and stored properly.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.