He said the family will have to reckon with the future of the fourth-generation business, which was established in 1908 and is tucked among the vineyards and agricultural lands of Long Island's North Fork, about 80 miles (129 km) east of Manhattan.

The Suffolk County Health Department noted that avian flu “at this point is not transmissible among humans” More than 100,000 ducks at one New York farm are being euthanized due to an outbreak of the avian flu.

The highly infectious H5N1 strain has caused outbreaks across the country. Now, Long Island’s last duck farm must kill its entire flock and may go out of business, its owner said.