Johnathan Burns isn't trying to be inhospitable, but the Carroll County chicken farmer would appreciate it if you stayed away from his birds.

“I’m not supposed to have anybody out here that is not involved with the company,” Burns, who raises young chicks for a major poultry producer, said. “It’s why you want everybody to stay off your farm. (It’s) not to be rude.”

It's not rudeness. It's just safety.

A particularly nasty strain of bird flu has devastated chicken and turkey flocks in 14 states, mostly in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. But the flu, which has led to the destruction of nearly 47 million birds, has been spotted as far south as Arkansas.

And for Georgia, the nation’s largest poultry producer, farmers are praying the disease doesn’t come home to roost.

Click here to read the complete MyAJC story, including what precautions local officials are taking for a potential outbreak

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