Thursday, April 30, 2015

UPDATE 1-Bird flu infection "probable" in Iowa chicken broiler breeding farm - Reuters

<span id="midArticle_start"/>(Adds details about testing, background)

<span id="midArticle_0"/>By P.J. Huffstutter

<span id="midArticle_1"/>CHICAGO, April 30 (Reuters) - An Iowa-based chicken broilerbreeding farm has initially tested positive for the highlypathogenic H5 bird flu, the Iowa Department of Agriculture andLand Stewardship confirmed on Thursday.

<span id="midArticle_2"/>The facility in Kossuth County, Iowa, houses an estimated19,000 birds, state officials said. Birds were dying in greaterthan normal numbers at the breeding farm, which is a typicalsign of influenza infection in a flock.

<span id="midArticle_3"/>This is thought to be first time the avian influenza virushas affected a broiler breeding farm in this outbreak. Suchbreeding farms are traditionally known for having extremelytight biosecurity systems.

<span id="midArticle_4"/>Though the operation is small compared to some of the otherpoultry farm sites in the Midwest that have been affected by thecurrent outbreak, the probable breach of a chicken broilerbreeder's biosecurity underscores the potential for thecountry's poultry meat industry supply chain to be affected.

<span id="midArticle_5"/>Typically, such facilities' chickens lay fertile eggs, whichare sent to a hatchery to produce chicks that are later raisedand slaughtered for meat.

<span id="midArticle_6"/>Additional testing to confirm the finding is underway at thefederal Agriculture Department of Animal and Plant HealthInspection Services' (APHIS) National Veterinary ServicesLaboratories in Ames, Iowa.

<span id="midArticle_7"/>Two bird flu strains have been found in the United Statesthis year. The H5N2 strain has been reported in Arkansas, Idaho,Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, NorthDakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin. It hasalso been identified on farms in Ontario, Canada.

<span id="midArticle_8"/>The H5N8 strain has been identified in California and alsoin Idaho, according to the Agriculture Department. (Reporting By P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

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