A Karlsruhe Zoo employee feeds penguins in a protective suit. In early February, avian influenza, a highly contagious form of bird flu, was detected at Karlsruhe Zoo. WASHINGTON (AP) - Brad Moline, a fourth-generation Iowa turkey farmer, saw this happen before.
In 2015, a virulent avian flu outbreak nearly wiped out his flock.Barns once filled with chattering birds were suddenly silent.
Employees were anguished by having to kill sickened animals. The family business, started in 1924, was at serious risk.His business recovered, but now the virus is back, again imperiling the nation's poultry farms.
And this time, there's another pernicious force at work: a potent wave of misinformation that claims the bird flu isn't real."You just want to beat your head against the wall," Moline said of the Facebook groups in which people insist the flu is fake or, maybe, a bioweapon. "I understand the frustration with how COVID was handled.