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Bird Flu Outbreak Forces Culling of 100,000 Ducks, Threatening Last Duck Farm in Long Island

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 24, 2025.

By India Edwards HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 24, 2025 -- 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.

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.

“This has spread like wildfire here,” Doug Corwin, who is part of the fourth generation of his family to operate Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, which has been open since 1908, told The New York Times.

“I have done this all my life, and we are the last of this industry,” Corwin said. “It is gut-wrenching. You work your whole life for something, and then one day everything is gone.”

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.

It is also the last remaining duck farm on Long Island, which had 90 farms in the mid-20th century.

The Suffolk County Health Department, which confirmed the outbreak on Tuesday, said state and federal officials were conducting “depopulating, cleaning and disinfection activities” at the facility.

The risk to humans is still considered low, though transmission is possible for farm workers who handle infected flock, according to Dr. Gregson Pigott, the Suffolk County health commissioner.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 67 human cases of H5N1 since last year, including one death in Louisiana.

While Crescent Duck Farm’s future is in jeopardy, Corwin said he has some hope for recovery.

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’s prized genetic strain of ducks, known for their tender meat and meat-to-fat ratio.

“The reason I am still in business is my genetics, and if I can’t preserve my genetics, then I am worthless as far as duck farming goes,” Corwin told The Times. “My customers are people who use multiple ducks a night -- chefs who use duck after duck after duck.”

However, Corwin said he is hesitant to rebuild unless the U.S. Department of Agriculture approves a vaccine for the virus.

“I don’t want to go through all of this again,” he said.

The outbreak has already forced Crescent Duck Farm to lay off 45 of its 75 employees.

“I’ve seen a lot of things in my years, but I haven’t seen anything like this," Corwin concluded.

Sources

  • Suffolk County (N.Y.) Department of Health, news release, Jan. 21, 2025
  • The New York Times, media report, Jan. 23, 2025

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted January 2025

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