By India Edwards HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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FRIDAY, Jan. 24, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The last duck farm on New York’s Long Island is facing an uncertain future after a bird flu outbreak forced the culling of nearly 100,000 ducks.<\/p>\n
The highly contagious H5N1 avian flu, otherwise known as bird flu, was detected at the farm last week prompting a government-mandated quarantine and disinfection process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has spread like wildfire here,\u201d Doug Corwin<\/a>, who is part of the fourth generation of his family to operate Crescent Duck Farm<\/a> in Aquebogue, which has been open since 1908, told The New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI have done this all my life, and we are the last of this industry,\u201d Corwin said. \u201cIt is gut-wrenching. You work your whole life for something, and then one day everything is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n The farm, which supplies ducks to restaurants across the Northeast — including New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Boston — produces 3.5% of the ducks sold in the United States.<\/p>\n It is also the last remaining duck farm on Long Island, which had 90 farms in the mid-20th century.<\/p>\n The Suffolk County Health Department, which confirmed the outbreak on Tuesday, said state and federal officials were conducting \u201cdepopulating, cleaning and disinfection activities\u201d at the facility.<\/p>\n The risk to humans is still considered low, though transmission is possible for farm workers who handle infected flock, according to Dr. Gregson Pigott<\/a>, the Suffolk County health commissioner.<\/p>\n The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 67 human cases<\/a> of H5N1 since last year, including one death in Louisiana<\/a>.<\/p>\n While Crescent Duck Farm\u2019s future is in jeopardy, Corwin said he has some hope for recovery.<\/p>\n Government officials have agreed to spare several thousand eggs, which a local hatchery has offered to hatch. This could allow Corwin to preserve the farm\u2019s prized genetic strain of ducks, known for their tender meat and meat-to-fat ratio.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason I am still in business is my genetics, and if I can\u2019t preserve my genetics, then I am worthless as far as duck farming goes,\u201d Corwin told The Times<\/em>. \u201cMy customers are people who use multiple ducks a night — chefs who use duck after duck after duck.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Corwin said he is hesitant to rebuild unless the U.S. Department of Agriculture approves a vaccine for the virus.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to go through all of this again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The outbreak has already forced Crescent Duck Farm to lay off 45 of its 75 employees.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of things in my years, but I haven\u2019t seen anything like this,” Corwin concluded.<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the current situation of bird flu<\/a>.<\/p>\n SOURCE: Suffolk County (N.Y.) Department of Health, news release, Jan. 21, 2025; The New York Times, media report, Jan. 23, 2025<\/p>\n