Governor Kathy Hochul (D) of the State of New York announced closure of live poultry markets in New York City and three adjoining counties as a result of isolation of avian influenza virus.  The order that encompassed the boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens and neighboring West Chester, Nassau and Suffolk counties mandated depopulation and decontamination of 80 markets according to the New York State Department of Agriculture.

The presence of H5N1 virus in live bird markets presumes infection among supply flocks.  It is hoped that State of New York and APHIS are actively conducting traceback investigations since the virus is evidently circulating in the supply chain to urban markets. It is inevitable that following resumption of trading, the recent action by Governor Hochul will have to be revisited, based on the endemic status of HPAI infection.

Live bird markets are an anachronism in the context of the U.S. in 2025.  Live bird markets are a source of human infection in Asia and Africa and represent a potential risk of emergence of zoonotic infection in our Nation.  Nobody would starve as a result of permanent closure of all live bird markets that exist to cater for ethnic and socioeconomic minorities.  The extreme costs and disruption as a result of emergence of zoonotic infection would be felt through the entire economy of a region.  Although risks of human infection are relatively low at present, the consequences of a mutation leading to an outbreak as in China would be catastrophic.  It is time to regulate live bird markets into extinction given the risks involved. The availability of both halal and kosher chickens from USDA-inspected plants that are distributed to consumers through a cold chain confirms the irrelevancy of live bird markets nationally.