New York state is taking steps to limit the spread of the national bird flu outbreak locally. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday that inspectors have found seven cases of bird flu during routine inspections this past week in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

Those stores were shut down immediately. For the 80 or so remaining uninfected stores, they must finish selling their live inventory by next Monday, clean and disinfect, then keep their doors shuttered for five days.

"Out of an abundance of caution and to thwart any further transmission, we're issuing a notice and order to temporarily shut down all live bird markets in New York City, as well as in Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties," Hochul said. 

Hochul said the shutdown will last for a week, until next Friday. 

"For a weeklong period, no poultry can be delivered to those live bird markets," Hochul said. 

The markets will then be inspected before they are allowed to reopen. 

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal said the decision to allow uninfected markets to sell all inventory before closing is not safe. 

"I think that's a big mistake to sell out the inventory. Have they tested every bird? Have they tested all the products that they're selling? What's better is that they be safely discarded. The state should help out those businesses that are losing revenue," Rosenthal said. "They're near the bird, they touch them." 

Health officials say it is safe to sell the inventory. 

"There is no immediate public health threat," Hochul says

"These are just simply measured common sense steps that will curb the spread of bird flu and ultimately to keep New Yorkers safe, which is always my top priority," Hochul said."Now I want to reiterate that people should not be concerned. Let me be clear, there is no immediate public health threat."

"The New York State Department Health is using all the tools at its disposal the monitor for avian influenza in human beings, and we're prepared for widespread testing should the need arise," New York Department of Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. "At this time, there's no human cases of avian influenza that have been diagnosed in New York State. And just to give you some context, we've had 67 cases in the United States since 2022. Right now, the New York State Department of Health assesses the threat to the public as low. There's no immediate public health threat."

"The people most at risk becoming infected with H5N1 are people who have contact with infected birds or infected poultry, cattle or other animals," McDonald added. "I would like to remind everyone in general, you should avoid contact with dead or ill birds, you know, and for folks that do keep chickens, ducks or geese, you should familiarize yourselves with clinical signs of avian influenza and contact a veterinarian or the New York State Department of [Agriculture] and Markets if multiple birds die suddenly." 

"The current risk to New Yorkers of bird flu (H5N1) remains low. Avian influenza viruses only present a wider risk if the virus develops the ability to transmit between people – which we have not seen," New York City Health Department Acting Commissioner Michelle Morse said. 

It's important to note the transmission threats of bird flu to humans remain extremely low. Properly cooking and preparing poultry and eggs kills the bacteria that carries the bird flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control. 

Shutdown will impact businesses, families

Quality Live Poultry in Queens is one of the markets that will temporarily shut down. 

"West Indians, we come and get our duck, our chicken, weekends, celebrate," Barrat Khan said. "It's going to impact us a lot." 

While communities rely on the poultry markets, residents say health and safety comes first. 

"We just have have to abide by the rules. If it needs to be closed, it needs to be closed," Khan said. 

At Rana's Live Poultry in the Bronx, customer after customer saw the closed sign, and were disappointed. 

"It surprised me a little bit, because I come here all the time to buy chicken, which is good. See, now I gotta go back home, no chicken," Sandy Brito said. "It's more fresh. The meat feels good. We really need this." 

For many, buying live chickens at poultry shops isn't a preference, it's a religious and cultural requirement. 

"Because we're Muslim, we are required to have Muslim person slaughter chicken," Nabeel Alhalmi said. "Where are we going to buy chicken? From where? That's the only place we buy chicken from." 

"It's vey important for this place to be open," Alhalmi added.

Bird flu driving up prices, but for how long?

Recently, federal agricultural workers euthanized an entire flock of 100,000 ducks at a farm in Suffolk County, New York due to bird flu.

The national bird flu outbreak has driven egg prices up, and some small business owners have had to raise prices of New York City staples, like the classic bodega bacon, egg and cheese. 

Experts with Cornell University said it could take some time for egg prices to decrease, since it can take 6-9 months to get egg production flowing again from a flock that has been depopulated.

NYC zoos impacted by bird flu

The Wildlife Conservation Society announced Friday that three ducks at the Queens Zoo have died due to avian influenza.

At the Bronx Zoo, they say nine wild birds and three collection ducks that may have been exposed to the virus have died, but they are waiting on lab tests to confirm the causes of death.

As a precaution, vulnerable bird species have been moved to protected areas in Wildlife Conservation Society parks.

Officials say the parks will remain open to the public, as there is little risk of visitors coming into contact with any birds.

Doctors say the risk of human transmission is low.

"About 67 people have acquired avian flu thus far, but all of them have had direct contact either with wild birds, livestock or dairy farmers. So I want to reiterate, there's no sustained human-to-human transmission," one doctor said.

There's more information about safety measures online here. People are urged to report sick or dead birds to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets at 518-457-3502 for poultry, or the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at 518-478-2203 for wild birds.