<span id="midArticle_start"/>(Adds company comment)
<span id="midArticle_0"/>By P.J. Huffstutter and Tom Polansek
<span id="midArticle_1"/>CHICAGO, April 30 (Reuters) - The highly pathogenic H5 avianflu turned up in initial tests at five more farms in Iowa,including a commercial egg operation housing up to 5.5 millionbirds, Iowa's agriculture department said on Thursday.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>If the virus is confirmed at the farms in additional testsunder way at a U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory, thetotal number of American cases could surpass 20 million birdsand result in the biggest death toll in a bird flu outbreak inU.S. history.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Avian flu at the egg farm in Buena Vista County, whereworkers saw an unexpected jump in bird deaths before the flockwas tested, could be the largest single farm operation to be hitin the current outbreak.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The egg farm's owner, Rembrandt Foods, one of the top U.S.egg producers, confirmed the outbreak but disputed the number ofbirds affected. The state did not identify theaffected farm by name.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"Rembrandt Foods takes biosecurity and food safety veryseriously. Our focus over the past several weeks has been todiligently implement enhanced biosecurity procedures," thecompany said in a statement. "Notwithstanding our best efforts,one of our barns at the Rembrandt, Iowa, complex has become thelatest ... to test presumptive positive for avian influenza."
<span id="midArticle_6"/>The company said it is working with state and federalregulatory authorities to limit the spread of the virus. Itsegg-laying facilities in Renville, Minnesota, and Thompson,Iowa, are not affected, according to the company statement.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Avian flu was "probable" at four other commercial farms inBuena Vista, Sioux and Clay counties, the Iowa Department ofAgriculture and Land Stewardship said. If the virus is confirmedat all five farms in the coming days, the number of sites whereH5 has been found in Iowa would rise to 17.
<span id="midArticle_8"/><span id="midArticle_9"/>BROILER FARM HIT
<span id="midArticle_10"/>The news came only hours after state officials confirmed onThursday that an Iowa-based chicken broiler breeding farm hasinitially tested positive for the virus.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>The facility in Kossuth County, Iowa, houses an estimated19,000 birds, the state agriculture department said.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Birds were dying in greater than normal numbers at thebreeding farm, which is a typical sign of influenza infection ina flock.
<span id="midArticle_13"/>This is thought to be first time the virus has affected abroiler breeding farm in this outbreak. Such breeding farms aretraditionally known for having extremely tight biosecuritysystems.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Though the operation is small compared with some of theother poultry farm sites in the Midwest that have been affectedby the current outbreak, the probable breach of a chickenbroiler breeder's biosecurity underscores the potential for thecountry's poultry meat industry supply chain to be affected.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>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_0"/>Infections with the H5N2 strain have picked up pace in thepast few weeks. Only a million birds had been infected at thebeginning of April after the strain was first found in January.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>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_2"/>The H5N8 strain has been identified in California and alsoin Idaho, according to the Agriculture Department.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>More than 15 million commercial birds nationwide have diedor are expected to be killed in the current outbreak.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>(Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter; Additional reporting by TomPolansek and Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Toni Reinhold, JonathanOatis and Lisa Shumaker)
<span id="midArticle_5"/>
<span id="midArticle_0"/>By P.J. Huffstutter and Tom Polansek
<span id="midArticle_1"/>CHICAGO, April 30 (Reuters) - The highly pathogenic H5 avianflu turned up in initial tests at five more farms in Iowa,including a commercial egg operation housing up to 5.5 millionbirds, Iowa's agriculture department said on Thursday.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>If the virus is confirmed at the farms in additional testsunder way at a U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory, thetotal number of American cases could surpass 20 million birdsand result in the biggest death toll in a bird flu outbreak inU.S. history.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Avian flu at the egg farm in Buena Vista County, whereworkers saw an unexpected jump in bird deaths before the flockwas tested, could be the largest single farm operation to be hitin the current outbreak.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>The egg farm's owner, Rembrandt Foods, one of the top U.S.egg producers, confirmed the outbreak but disputed the number ofbirds affected. The state did not identify theaffected farm by name.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"Rembrandt Foods takes biosecurity and food safety veryseriously. Our focus over the past several weeks has been todiligently implement enhanced biosecurity procedures," thecompany said in a statement. "Notwithstanding our best efforts,one of our barns at the Rembrandt, Iowa, complex has become thelatest ... to test presumptive positive for avian influenza."
<span id="midArticle_6"/>The company said it is working with state and federalregulatory authorities to limit the spread of the virus. Itsegg-laying facilities in Renville, Minnesota, and Thompson,Iowa, are not affected, according to the company statement.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Avian flu was "probable" at four other commercial farms inBuena Vista, Sioux and Clay counties, the Iowa Department ofAgriculture and Land Stewardship said. If the virus is confirmedat all five farms in the coming days, the number of sites whereH5 has been found in Iowa would rise to 17.
<span id="midArticle_8"/><span id="midArticle_9"/>BROILER FARM HIT
<span id="midArticle_10"/>The news came only hours after state officials confirmed onThursday that an Iowa-based chicken broiler breeding farm hasinitially tested positive for the virus.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>The facility in Kossuth County, Iowa, houses an estimated19,000 birds, the state agriculture department said.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>Birds were dying in greater than normal numbers at thebreeding farm, which is a typical sign of influenza infection ina flock.
<span id="midArticle_13"/>This is thought to be first time the virus has affected abroiler breeding farm in this outbreak. Such breeding farms aretraditionally known for having extremely tight biosecuritysystems.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Though the operation is small compared with some of theother poultry farm sites in the Midwest that have been affectedby the current outbreak, the probable breach of a chickenbroiler breeder's biosecurity underscores the potential for thecountry's poultry meat industry supply chain to be affected.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>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_0"/>Infections with the H5N2 strain have picked up pace in thepast few weeks. Only a million birds had been infected at thebeginning of April after the strain was first found in January.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>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_2"/>The H5N8 strain has been identified in California and alsoin Idaho, according to the Agriculture Department.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>More than 15 million commercial birds nationwide have diedor are expected to be killed in the current outbreak.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>(Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter; Additional reporting by TomPolansek and Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Toni Reinhold, JonathanOatis and Lisa Shumaker)
<span id="midArticle_5"/>
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