A study by an Iowa consulting company estimates the state economy lost $1.2 billion due to the avian influenza epidemic, reports the Des Moines Register. The No. 1 egg-producing state was hit harder than any other state, accounting for two-thirds of poultry losses nationwide. More than 49 million fowl, mostly egg-laying hens and turkeys, were killed by the virus or culled to prevent its spread. For Iowa, the losses included $800 million in lost egg, chicken and poultry production and $400 million in lost wages and taxes, says an estimate by Decision Innovation Solutions. A spokesman for the Iowa Farm Bureau, which commissioned the report, said recovery “will not be swift.”