Some privately owned chickens in Utah County have tested positive for Newcastle disease, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food announced Friday.
It’s the first confirmed case in Utah of the highly contagious and fatal virus.
The birds were brought to Utah from California, which is currently experiencing an active outbreak of the disease, which affects the respiratory, nervous and digestive systems of birds and poultry. The disease is so virulent that many birds and poultry die without showing any clinical signs of it.
The disease does not pose a food safety concern, and no human cases have ever occurred from eating poultry products, the state said in a news release.