After tests suggested bird flu in a poultry flock in northern Alabama, the poultry breeding company Aviagen culled the flock and removed from its production line eggs that originated from the farm, says Reuters. The flock was one of three potential outbreaks of bird flu and followed discoveries across the state line in Tennessee a week earlier.
Alabama state veterinarian Tony Frazier told the wire service that 15,000 birds were culled. The U.S. poultry industry is on the watch for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Some 50 million chickens and turkeys died in the worst-ever U.S. epidemic of HPAI in 2014-15 and dozens of countries banned or restricted imports of U.S. chicken meat. Aviagen said its flock showed no sign of clinical disease although tests detected the presence of flu antibodies, which may indicate the less-worrisome low-pathogenic version of bird flu. High-path bird flu, as it is called, can kill a flock in two days.
Earlier this month, Tennessee found the first U.S. case of HPAI in a year. A couple of days later, the state confirmed low-pathogenic bird flu at a neighboring farm. Some 90,500 birds were culled at the two farms. Destroying flocks is a standard technique to prevent the spread of bird flu.