Manila | Reuters — The Philippines will cull 200,000 chickens, quails and ducks after confirming the country’s first outbreak of bird flu, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said on Friday. The avian flu outbreak was detected in a farm in San Luis municipality in Pampanga province, north of the capital Manila, which later spread to five […] Read more
Philippines reports first avian flu outbreak
Bird flu found in Tennessee chicken flock
Reuters — A strain of bird flu has been detected in a chicken breeder flock on a Tennessee farm contracted to U.S. food giant Tyson Foods, and the 73,500 birds will be culled to stop the virus from entering the food system, government and company officials said on Sunday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said […] Read more
China reports more severe form of bird flu, threat to poultry
Geneva/Beijing | Reuters — China is working to assess the prevalence of a new strain of H7N9 bird flu, state radio reported Wednesday, after global health authorities said the strain had evolved into a more severe form in birds. So far the variant strain has only been detected in Guangdong province, but given the wide […] Read more
China bird flu deaths surge in what could be worst season ever
Beijing | Reuters — As many as 79 people died from H7N9 bird flu in China last month, the government said, stoking worries that the spread of the virus this season could be the worst on record. January’s fatalities were up to four times higher than the same month in past years, and brought the […] Read more
Proliferation of bird flu outbreaks raises pandemic risk
London | Reuters — The global spread of bird flu and the number of viral strains currently circulating and causing infections have reached unprecedented levels, raising the risk of a potential human outbreak, according to disease experts. Multiple outbreaks have been reported in poultry farms and wild flocks across Europe, Africa and Asia in the […] Read more
Avian flu quarantine ends for Ontario duck farm
A federal quarantine has been lifted for a duck farm near St. Catharines, Ont. where birds were confirmed in July with low-pathogenicity (“low-path”) avian flu. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has reported the quarantine was lifted effective Sept. 20, at the end of a 21-day waiting period after the commercial-scale farm was depopulated, cleaned and […] Read more
Ontario duck farm catches low-path avian flu
All the birds on a commercial duck farm in southern Ontario’s Niagara region are about to be euthanized after some were confirmed with a less severe form of avian flu. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Thursday said the strain of avian influenza found in the birds on the farm is a low-pathogenic (“low-path”) […] Read more
U.S. kills 39,000 turkeys in low-path bird flu outbreak
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. authorities destroyed 39,000 turkeys in Missouri due to an outbreak of a mild form of avian flu, the World Organization for Animal Health said on Tuesday, as officials remained on alert for new cases. State authorities also have begun a quarantine and taken surveillance measures around the farm in Jasper […] Read more
Lessons learned from the avian flu disaster
The biosecurity do and don’t list is incredibly long, and even reaches into the homes of poultry farm workers
Reading Time: 3 minutes The mood at the Western Poultry Conference was sombre as Helen Wojcinski detailed the carnage of the avian influenza outbreak that tore through the U.S. 17 months ago. More than 10 million turkeys and about 11 per cent of the U.S. layer population lost. More than 220 farms in 15 states hit. Losses of $3 […] Read more
Canada blocks poultry, eggs from Indiana
Cross-border travellers coming into Canada from the U.S. are now warned against bringing in raw poultry and eggs from Indiana, the site of the country’s latest cases of avian flu. Travellers entering Canada from the U.S. may not bring in uncooked poultry products, live birds and/or eggs from Indiana, North Dakota or Missouri, the Canadian […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
