avian influenza
Southern Indiana is center of U.S. bird flu outbreaks
State officials reported the fifth outbreak of deadly bird flu on turkey farms in Indiana, one of the top turkey-producing states in the nation, on Wednesday. Eleven cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been reported in domestic flocks in the eastern half of the United States in the past two weeks.
South Carolina flock culled after bird flu discovery
The USDA confirmed a case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a turkey flock in South Carolina and said on Thursday that all of the birds had been killed to prevent spread of the disease. It was the first case of "high path" bird flu in a commercial poultry plant in the United States since 2017.
U.S. and South Korea agree to regionalize bird-flu bans
The United States and South Korea, the sixth-largest customer for U.S. farm exports, agreed to limit the trade impact of any outbreaks of deadly avian influenza in the future, announced the USDA.
Bring birds indoors in bird-flu areas, USDA tells organic farmers
Organic farmers will not compromise their certification under the National Organic Program if they temporarily keep flocks indoors as a precaution against avian influenza, says the USDA agency that oversees the program. In a notice, the Agricultural Marketing Service said it "supports bringing the birds inside on a temporary basis in areas in proximity to the recent [bird flu] detections in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia."
Second outbreak of deadly bird flu found in Tennessee
The USDA confirmed the second case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in southern Tennessee since March 4, in a 55,000-bird broiler-breeder flock less than two miles from the first outbreak in Lincoln County. "Depopulation has begun," a standard step to prevent spread of the bird flu virus that can wipe out an infected flock in two days, said USDA.
Bird flu suspected in three counties in northern Alabama
The Alabama state veterinarian issued a "stop movement" order affecting poultry because of three suspected cases of bird flu in northern counties that border Tennessee, said the state Department of Agriculture and Industries. The incidents follow the confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza on a broiler-breeder farm in southern Tennessee last week.
In wake of bird-flu outbreak, weeks of tests and surveillance in Tennessee
Nearly 74,000 chickens were killed and buried on a farm in southern Tennessee in an effort to stem an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, said state officials. The first round of samples from flocks on neighboring farms were free of the disease, said state veterinarian Charlie Hatcher, who cautioned, "We'll be in this thing for a long haul."
Tennessee flock has first U.S. case of deadly bird flu this year
Agriculture officials ordered the culling of 73,500 chickens on a Tennessee farm near the border with Alabama, and put 30 nearby poultry farms under quarantine following discovery of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the breeding flock. It was the first case of "high path" bird flu in commercial poultry in the nation this year.
Bird flu on the move in Europe and Asia, with poultry and human victims
Strains of the influenza virus that decimated Midwestern turkey and egg production in 2014 and 2015 are now wreaking havoc in poultry production in several parts of the world, including China where the virus has jumped species and infected and killed humans.
Bird-flu epidemics in Asia and Europe
Farmers in Asia and Europe have destroyed millions of birds as they combat epidemics of avian influenza, says the Wall Street Journal. The United States lost 10 percent of its egg-laying hens in its worst-ever outbreak of bird flu in 2014-15 but this time, U.S. egg producers are enjoying higher prices as they ship eggs to South Korea.
A threat to livestock, New World screwworm found in southern Florida
Federal and state officials are watching for further signs of New World screwworm, a maggot that kills animals by feeding on their flesh, after the pest was found in wounds on a stray dog near Homestead, in Miami-Dade County in southern Florida. "This is the first confirmed case on Florida's mainland," said USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Using weather radar as an instrument against bird flu
University of California researchers are using the U.S. network of weather radar stations to track wild fowl that could carry the bird flu virus, says UC Food Observer. Veterinarian Tod Kelman, a co-leader of the project, said that by tracking flocks as they travel, "we hope to gain novel strategic insights with respect to surveillance and prevention of avian influenza transmission to domestic poultry."
Deadly bird flu found in mallard in Alaska
A mallard duck captured near Fairbanks, Alaska, and tested as part of a surveillance program was infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza, said USDA. It was the first confirmation of bird flu in the United States since June 2015, at the end of the worst bird flu epidemic to strike U.S. poultry flocks.
How the government spent $879 million on the bird-flu epidemic
The average cost of cleaning and disinfecting an egg farm hit by highly pathogenic avian influenza during the 2014-15 epidemic was $8 million, according to three researchers who examined the $879 million the government spent to combat the disease.
For first time, ventilation shutdown used as a bird-flu control
Officials used the "last resort" method of turning off the ventilation system to kill chickens and turkeys in their barns while eradicating an avian influenza outbreak in southwestern Indiana last week. It was the first time the approach, an emergency measure in the USDA's view, has been used against bird flu.
Bird flu outbreak claims 400,000 fowl in Indiana
The first U.S. case of highly pathogenic avian influenza of the year apparently was limited to a turkey flock in southwestern Indiana, but authorities ordered the extermination of 401,163 turkeys and egg-laying hens as a precaution.
Biggest food and farming stories of 2015 will roll into next year
Looking back on 2015, editors at FERN listed more a dozen newsworthy stories from the year that could have lasting effects. Here's a look at them, starting with half a dozen top-tier developments, including the FDA's approval of the first genetically engineered animal.
The long watch for bird flu
After the devastating bird flu epidemic in the Midwest earlier this year, the disease has not been seen in the country since Utah wildlife officials found an infected mallard at Farmington Bay on Great Salt Lake on July 31. State and federal officials are testing thousands of wild birds each month to identify hot spots for the virus as an "early warning" to producers.