Cases of bird flu confirmed in New York: what does it mean and what precautions are needed

Federal officials found highly pathogenic avian influenza at a flock of birds in New York and Maine, reports Fox Business.

Samples from non-commercial herds in Suffolk County, New York, and Knox County, Maine, were tested at Cornell University's Animal Health Diagnostic Center and confirmed at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service laboratories in Ames, Iowa.

Avian influenza can cause a high mortality rate in birds. In 2015, 50 million birds in 15 states died in an outbreak that cost the federal government nearly $1 billion.

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However, officials in both states have "quarantined affected facilities" and the birds "will be culled to prevent the spread of the disease," according to notices from the USDA.

The USDA also noted that both flocks "will not enter the food system" and that the disease does not pose an immediate public health risk.

Virus has already been found in four commercial turkey farms in southern Indiana, as well as in one flock of commercial broiler chickens in Kentucky and backyard mixed bird species in northern Virginia.

The birds that were infected in Kentucky were reared at a Tyson Foods farm in Fulton County. However, only one damaged house is known on farm, which is one of the thousands of farms that raise chickens for the company.

To mitigate the spread, Tyson is "strengthening biosecurity measures at other farms in the region and placing additional restrictions on outside visitors and continuing our practice of testing all flocks for avian flu before the birds leave the farms."

Public health officials say no human cases of avian flu viruses have been found in the US. The virus can be transmitted from infected birds to humans, but such infections are rare and do not result in sustained human outbreaks.

The USDA also noted that properly cooked poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees kill bacteria and viruses.