As more cases of bird flu are reported across species and locations, states across the country are taking precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Hundreds of thousands of people will gather at the Pennsylvania Farm Show beginning later this week—a potential breeding ground for virus transmission, which the state Department of Agriculture has taken extra steps to try to prevent.
Here’s a look at how Pennsylvania and Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration are responding to the bird flu and trying to prevent a widespread outbreak among cattle and humans.
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What is the status of the avian flu outbreak in Pennsylvania and across the United States?
As of Dec. 31, there have been no reported cases of bird flu in cattle or humans in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania has been fighting the avian flu outbreak since 2022. To date, 32 commercial flocks, 39 backyard flocks, and a total of more than 4.7 million birds in Pennsylvania have been affected by the outbreak—mostly in early 2023—resulting in one of the worst outbreaks of bird flu among commercial flocks across the country.
But Pennsylvania has largely been able to quell the outbreak among poultry since then, spending more than $30 million last year on testing and reimbursement for farmers. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, there have been no cases of bird flu in commercial poultry since February.
The last confirmed infection was in October in Venango County, in a backyard flock of 20 birds that did not produce eggs or other products, Department of Agriculture spokesperson Shannon Powers said in an email.
Nationally, farmers have been forced to slaughter more than 100 million chickens and turkeys since 2022 to prevent an outbreak. However, those efforts have largely failed, now that the virus has mutated to infect cows and make it more likely to spread to humans; 875 herds of cattle in 16 states have tested positive for the virus, and more than 60 people have been infected.
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Are Pennsylvania residents at risk of contracting the virus?
Risk to humans remains low in Pennsylvania and nationally. Approximately 34 California residents have been infected since March, and symptoms remain mostly mild—although two individuals in Louisiana and Canada experienced severe symptoms. Most of the documented human cases so far are in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency last month.
What is Pennsylvania’s government doing to prevent spread of the virus?
Pennsylvania has taken “aggressive precautions to protect Pennsylvania’s dairy and poultry industries,” Powers said. Since November, the state has required milk processors and shippers to collect and test milk samples from bulk milk tank trucks. This is at no cost to dairy farmers.
Poultry continues to be tested on poultry farms and at live bird markets, Powers added.
Will the bird flu affect the Pennsylvania Farm Show?
The Pennsylvania Farm Show—the nation’s largest indoor agricultural exhibition—starts this weekend to celebrate the state’s agricultural industries. The Farm Show, which runs Saturday through Jan. 11 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, usually attracts more than 500,000 people each year—making it a potential hot spot for virus transmission.
But the Department of Agriculture has taken several precautions to prevent the spread: Live bird exhibits are limited to birds headed to slaughter to stop transmission back to farms, and Farm Show attendees won’t be allowed to handle or pet the birds.
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Any live animal at the Farm Show must have a veterinary inspection signed by an accredited veterinarian within 30 days of arrival.
Veterinarians will also check animals for physical signs of disease once they arrive at the Farm Show Complex. The animals will be checked again during daily rounds during the weeklong exhibition.
Are eggs safe to eat, and is milk safe to drink in Pennsylvania?
Yes, egg and pasteurized milk supplies from reputable suppliers that follow state food-safety laws remain safe to consume.
Consumers of raw milk are at a greater risk of contracting the bird flu or other viruses, because raw milk has not been heated and cooled to kill active viruses.
How is Pennsylvania’s medical industry responding?
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are working on a vaccine to protect humans and animals from the H5N1, or avian flu, virus. The vaccine, which is in clinical trials among cattle, uses the same messenger RNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
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More than $22 million in “Money Match” checks were mailed to nearly 100,000 Pennsylvanians, the treasury said.
In a news release on Thursday, the Pennsylvania Treasury said people should be on the lookout for the checks, which are part of the Pennsylvania Money Match program. Treasurer Stacy Garrity said to cash or deposit the checks “promptly.”
The first Pennsylvania Money Match checks, totaling more than $1.7 million, are now on the way to Pennsylvanians’ mailboxes. Pennsylvania Money Match is a new program that allows Treasury to return certain unclaimed property to rightful owners automatically, which was approved unanimously by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor last year.
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“I want Pennsylvanians to know that this is a real check, it is real money, and it belongs to them,” Garrity said in the news release. “And as always, I still encourage everyone to regularly search for unclaimed property online, as many claims will not qualify for the Money Match process.”
With the mailing of the year’s last batch of checks, more than $50 million will have been returned automatically to Pennsylvanians.
What are Money Match checks?
The program allows the state treasury to automatically return unclaimed property valued up to $500 owned by a single individual. Before the program was created in 2024, residents themselves had to seek out unclaimed property.
“I’m thrilled to continue this program as we work hard to get more money back to its rightful owners,” Garrity said in the news release.
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However, if the property has multiple owners or is valued higher than $500, Pennsylvanians still need to file a claim.
What is unclaimed property?
Unclaimed property includes dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten stocks, rebates and insurance policies, among other things. It can also include the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes.
According to the state treasury, more than one in 10 Pennsylvanians is owed some of the $5 billion in unclaimed property in the treasury’s care, and the average value of a claim is more than $1,000.
Unclaimed property scam
On its website, the state treasury has a warning about scammers using text messages to target potential unclaimed property claimants.
The department “never reaches out to people in regard to any program, including unclaimed property, via unsolicited text messages.”
A special weather statement was issued by the National Weather Service on Friday at 10:06 a.m. until 1 p.m. for Warren, McKean, Elk, Cameron, Clearfield, Cambria and Somerset counties.
“Temperatures will drop below the freezing mark through midday with rain showers quickly changing to snow showers. Blustery winds may dry off roads and other paved surfaces, but any residual water from previous rain or melting snow could freeze up and result in slick spots through the afternoon,” explains the weather service.
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