"Low-pathogenic strain" of Bird Flu detected in turkeys at West Virginia farm

[Ian David]

GLIDE Number: BH-20070402-10654-USA
Date / time: 02/04/2007 14:27:25
Event: Biological Hazard
Area: North-America
Country: USA
State/County: State of West Virginia
City: Unknow
Number of Deads: None or unknow
Number of Injured: None or unknow
Damage level: Minor

Description:
Turkeys at a farm in West Virginia have tested positive for what government officials believe is a low-pathogenic strain of the bird flu virus, the U.S. Agriculture Department said late on Sunday. Preliminary tests indicated the turkeys had a low-pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza virus. USDA officials said they can say "for certain" it's not the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus that has spread through birds in Asia, Europe and Africa. "Every indication is that the virus is consistent with low pathogenic strains of avian influenza, or LPAI, which are commonly found in birds and typically cause only minor sickness or no noticeable symptoms," USDA Chief Veterinarian John Clifford said in a statement. He added the detection in West Virginia should not "significantly impact" exports of U.S. poultry.

The samples were collected by an industry group as part of a routine before slaughter, USDA said. The birds showed no sign of illness or mortality. The samples were collected on Friday from a flock of about 25,000 birds that will now be destroyed to prevent the virus from mutating and spreading. USDA did not identify the farm where the disease was discovered. A low-pathogenic strain, which produces less disease and mortality in birds than does a high-pathogenic version, poses no threat to humans. USDA did not identify the In an effort to monitor for bird flu, USDA and the Department of Interior worked with states to collect more than 100,000 wild bird samples in 2006. The testing program detected a low-pathogenic bird flu strain in six states. The latest highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu strain in Asia, Europe and Africa is known to have killed at least 169 people and forced hundreds of millions of birds to be destroyed.

Event updates:
Situation Update No. 1 on 2007-04-03 at 03:25:35.

More:
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?lang=eng&cid=10654

[woodsprite]

1. OK, tin-foil hat time....

:tinfoilhat: My first thought when I read this was "Well, I guess they didn't have enough time to culture it to the strength they were hoping for". After all, with all the crap hitting the fan on multiple fronts, another distraction was needed desperately. :tinfoilhat:

Let's hear your first thought...

[BR_Parkway]

2. Don't feel like you're the only one who thought that

[nebenaube]

3. there is a definite pattern emerging....

I can't quite pin it down though...

[havocmom]

4. Big sale on young turkeys at local store

I was amazed at how small they were. I tend to like smaller birds and frustrated at the huge turkeys available most of the time. These were barely larger than roasting chickens.

And cheap! Hmm... Bird dumping?

[Mojorabbit]

double post deleted

[Mojorabbit]

5. It was H5N2

and the US actually filed a OIE report which every country is supposed to do but we don't always.
http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/wv/news2.shtml
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
Four countries have temporarily restricted imports of West Virginia poultry following the discovery of avian flu at a Pendleton County turkey farm.

Matt Herrick with the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service says Cuba, Japan, Russia and Taiwan won't accept any poultry or poultry products from West Virginia.

Herrick also says Hong Kong won't accept any poultry or poultry products from Pendleton County.

Herrick says each country has its own process for resuming poultry imports once avian flu is detected. For instance, Cuba allows such imports to resume 21 days after the disease is detected, providing the poultry farm is sterilized to its standards.

State agriculture officials say the strain of the disease found in Pendleton County turkeys is not harmful to humans. But 25-thousand turkeys at the farm were destroyed this week as a precaution to prevent the virus from mutating and spreading.