Jan. 22—NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho egg producer Opal Foods is destroying a flock of about 1,585,000 chickens and the Newton County Health Department is monitoring about 30 Opal Foods employees after an outbreak of bird flu that was discovered more than a week ago.

Larry Bergner, director of the Newton County Health Department, said his nurses are monitoring employees who were deemed at higher risk of illness because they dealt more closely with the chickens and those engaged in euthanizing the birds to make sure none of them get sick.

"The virus has a 10-day incubation period, so once the birds are destroyed, they're taking them to a landfill and composting," Bergner said. "Once that is completed, we'll monitor the people who are associated with that for 10 days just as a precaution to make sure there's no illness."

Bergner said he doesn't know how many birds were discovered to have the bird flu virus, but the company said it's easier and cheaper to destroy the entire flock and start over instead of trying to isolate the sick birds and preserve part of the flock.

"The virus is easily spread among animals. It spreads quickly among poultry farms, bird flocks, also in dairy cattle," Bergner said. "There's been some in dairy cattle, not in close proximity to us but nationwide. We see it in dairy cattle and poultry operations and wild birds as well. It doesn't spread easily from animal to person."

The Missouri Department of Conservation said last month that it was monitoring reports of sick and dead waterfowl, such as geese and ducks, across the state for bird flu during waterfowl hunting season.

"The Department is actively collecting birds to determine the cause of illness but suspects highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) to be the cause," the Department of Conservation reported in December. "Other states, including Kansas and Iowa, are experiencing similar occurrences. Avian influenza, commonly referred to as bird flu, spreads as birds along the North American flyways intermingle with infected birds from Europe and Asia. The viruses are transmitted from bird to bird through fecal droppings, saliva, and nasal discharges. There is a risk for spillover from wild birds into domestic poultry and then back again from poultry to wild birds, resulting in further spread."

Bergner said Opal Foods is following the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and the employees are doing well under monitoring. He said it's possible that his department will be monitoring 80 people before this is over, but once the 10-day incubation passes, the danger will likely be past.

"Our message is that there's no reason to fear — certainly no reason to panic — because it is associated with large poultry operations and possibly dairy farms, and the risk is extremely low to someone who's not a worker at one of those location," Bergner said. "You can never say 'no risk,' but the risk is extremely low. The bird flu does not transmit person to person, and that's the reason we take these precautions and talk to the state health department and state epidemiology department. We want to stay on top of it because now it does not transmit person to person, but it does transmit from animal to person and the risk is low there, but it does happen."