Could UV light help fight bird flu epidemic?
The company, located near the New York-New Jersey border and not at all connected to Elon Musk, is diverting much of its attention toward tweaking the virus-killing technology for use in commercial chicken houses.
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Upon news that egg prices could go up another 40% this year and the federal government's new plan to fight bird flu, News 12 visited with some scientists who are pushing an alternative method to guard against infection.
Ultraviolet light sanitization has been proven to protect against various infections in animal shelters and hospitals.
Now, Philip Gotthelf and John Tomaini, owners of Tesla Induction Lighting Co., are using UV-light to help prevent avian flu infections.
The company, located near the New York-New Jersey border and not at all connected to Elon Musk, is diverting much of its attention toward tweaking the virus-killing technology for use in commercial chicken houses.
"It's a remarkable way of disease prevention and implementing biosecurity all the way around," Gotthelf said Thursday during an interview in the company's storage and workspace.
Tesla Induction Lighting Co. has been installing UV light systems for companies nationwide, including one that operates 400 turkey barns throughout the midwestern United States.
Gotthelf and Tomaini have begun marketing the technology to farms looking to protect their flocks.
"There is USDA funding for mitigating bird flu, but they're not familiar with this technique. They're concentrating on other methodologies," Gotthelf said.
Several scholarly studies have found that UV light does inactivate the bird flu on any surface the light hits. Some experts said, though, the virus can still live for months under excrement and dirt that block the virus from the light. For that reason, some believe UV light could be a part of a larger strategy to control and prevent outbreaks.
Gotthelf has been lobbying the state and federal governments to include the technology in their overall plans to stop the bird flu.
"It's very difficult to get in touch with the right people in government to coordinate financing these and dispersing these amongst the facilities to mitigate the bird flu problem," Gotthelf said, adding that cost of a UV light system that can cover an entire commercial chicken house is about $70,000.
As part of President Donald Trump's newly released bird flu plan, $500 million in aid will go to farmers for biosecurity upgrades.
Tesla Induction Lighting is transitioning into "emergency production mode" to concentrate on UV light treatments specifically for poultry.
