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Recent U.S. Avian Influenza Outbreak is a Concern For Public Health

A contagious and deadly form of avian influenza has spread across multiple states in recent weeks. The highly infectious virus has killed many farmed poultry and wild birds.

Since early January, the virus began killing chickens in northeast Canada, and it has made its way through factory farms and migrating ducks, geese, and swans from Florida to Maine. The virus has also been making its way through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, with 300 outbreaks in 19 European countries in the last few weeks. In Israel, thousands of cranes have been killed at a nature reserve.

It has also made thousands of turkeys sick in Kentucky and Indiana, which began a mass slaughter of the birds and import bans. Officials were shocked at how efficiently and quickly this virus is killing the animals, saying the animals are dying within hours of the initial infection. In Indiana, according to NY Times, the state officials have already euthanized more than 100,000 birds.

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Legacies of the Land - Episode 2 - Riney Dairy

Video: Legacies of the Land - Episode 2 - Riney Dairy

"After doing all the research and seeing that I'm the 10th generation to farm in central Kentucky, it really opened my eyes to the legacy that we have here." — John Riney

Watch the Riney family's story in AGCO's #LandLegacies series.

Ten generations on the same piece of Kentucky land — and a legacy of family, faith and dairy farming passed from one to the next. In this episode of Legacies of the Land, the Riney family shares what it takes to keep a multi-generational farm going, and why the work still matters.