Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller confirmed that the Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. poultry facility in Farewell, Texas has received official notification of a positive test for HPAI.
Cal-Maine will be required to depopulate 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets at their facility. This accounts for approximately 3.6 percent of the company’s total flock as of March 2, 2024. Production at the facility has temporarily ceased as Cal-Maine Foods initiates the protocols prescribed by the USDA. “This is absolutely devastating news for Cal-Maine and the entire Panhandle region, which has already suffered so much,” Miller says. “Given this latest development, all producers must practice heightened biosecurity measures because the rapid spread of the virus means we have to act quickly.”
This news comes after the CDC confirmed a positive test of H5N1, a form of HPAI, in a Texas dairy worker who had direct contact with cattle suspected of being infected.
