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Avian influenza
Avian influenza is a viral infection found in domestic poultry and a wide range of other birds. Wild waterfowl and shorebirds are often subclinically affected carriers of the virus. In poultry, low-pathogenicity strains can cause subclinical infections; however, some strains typically cause respiratory signs or decreased egg production. Highly pathogenic strains may cause widespread organ failure and sudden death, often with high mortality rates. Diagnosis is based on detection of the viral genome or specific antibodies or on virus isolation. Antimicrobials may help control secondary bacterial infection in flocks affected by low-pathogenicity strains. Antiviral drugs are not approved or recommended. Prevention is best accomplished by biosecurity measures. Vaccines matched for antigenic type can greatly increase resistance to infection, prevent clinical signs, and decrease viral shedding in infected flocks.
A symposium on "Avian Influenza: Impacts on Wild Birds, Domestic Birds and Humans" will be held here April 15 at the Davis Senior Center, in California.
The symposium will explore the roles that wild birds and other wildlife could play in a widespread pandemic resulting from an avian influenza outbreak.
Topics will include an ecology of bird populations as well as expectations for AI in the Pacific Flyways and west coast domestic bird populations; wetland management as a strategy to...
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Serbia has reported a first suspected case of bird flu at domestic birds, following initial analysis made at one dead rooster on Wednesday.
Serbian veterinary authorities told reporters that as so far virus (Avian Influenza) H5N1 has been found at 11 wild birds in Northwest of the country and lately the virus is suspected to have killed the rooster, whose samples are sent immediately to EU reference laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge, UK.
Dejan Krnjajic said that authorities fear...
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Israel on Monday confirmed its first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. In a statement on its Web site, the Agriculture Ministry said the flu had been found in birds at two communal farms in southern Israel and at a farming community in central Israel.
Fearing the worst, Israel had gone ahead Saturday with the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of chickens and turkeys.
The H5N1 virus has killed or forced the slaughter of tens of millions of chickens and ducks across Asia...
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Avian influenza (AI) and Newcastle disease (ND) are poultry diseases of great concern to the poultry industry. The viruses that cause these diseases can be killed by heat. But the exact parameters for inactivating them by pasteurization had not been established—until now.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have shown that the same industry-standard pasteurization temperatures and times established for Salmonella inactivation in egg products can also kill AI and ND viruses....
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The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association has signed an agreement with ACDI/VOCA to provide technical assistance regarding the recent highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreaks internationally.
The two organizations will assist in recruiting U.S. poultry health experts who will provide technical assistance to countries fighting HPAI.
According to Dr. Elizabeth Krushinskie, vice president of food safety and production programs at USPOULTRY, “We are working with ACDI/VOCA and U.S....
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The French Ministry of Agriculture announced the intention to vaccinate outdoor ducks against Avian Influenza in three western parts of France (Landes, Loire atlantique and Vendée).
The French Ministry sees these regions at risk for transmission of the influenza virus by migrating birds. The Ministry has requested approval from the European Commission for these plans. Intervet will supply at least 30 million doses, a substantial part of the vaccine tender called by the French Ministry of...
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Chicken and other poultry are safe to eat if cooked properly, according to a joint statement by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) issued to national food safety authorities. However, no birds from flocks with disease should enter the food chain.
FAO/WHO made the statement to clarify food safety issues in relation to the current bird flu crisis. The statement has been issued through the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) and is available in six...
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Member States have endorsed a number of European Commission decisions on import restrictions and biosecurity measures currently in place against the risk of Avian Influenza, at the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) on Wednesday.
It was agreed that, for Turkey and Croatia, the existing ban on import to the EU will be regionalised to cover only the areas previously affected by Avian Influenza, given the strict control measures applied in these countries.
In...
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The European Union has lifted its import ban on ostriches and their meat from South Africa and is satisfied that avian influenza is no longer present in the country, the EU's Official Journal said on Friday.
South Africa declared itself free of bird flu in September and then sent a final report on its animal health situation to the European Commission, asking the EU to lift its import ban.
"The information contained in the final report shows clearly that the outbreak in the Republic of...
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Yemen has identified Newcastle disease, common among fowl but harmless to humans, as the cause of chicken deaths which have prompted public fears of a possible bird flu outbreak, officials said on Saturday.
An official who asked not to be named told Reuters that Newcastle disease and not bird flu was behind the chicken deaths in poultry farms in the Arab country. He declined to give further details.
Newspapers quoted residents in some areas as saying large numbers of chickens had died,...
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DuPont™ Virkon® S, the world's premier veterinary disinfectant, recognised by governments worldwide as a disinfectant of choice for the Emergency Disease Control of Avian Influenza, has now been independently proven to be highly effective against the lethal H5N1 strain.
Independent tests carried out by the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Peoples Republic of China, have proved that DuPont™ Virkon® S completely inactivates the H5N1 virus at dilutions of 1:800 & 1:1000 following a ten...
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International Poultry Council (IPC) -- a global poultry association -- has been formed to fight bird flu worldwide and help poultry industries cooperate with each other to resolve issues that affect them all.
IPC Members include Argentina, Brazil, China, European Union, Mexico, Russia, Thailand and the United States, according to a US Grains Council (USGC) report circulated in India.
At the formation, delegates adopted a charter agreement whose vision and mission statements and list of...
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The government plans to launch a national register of poultry businesses which a farmers' spokesman said on Friday would enable authorities to tackle any future outbreak of bird flu swiftly.
From next month, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will start inviting new registrations from businesses raising chickens, ducks and other fowl.
A spokesman for the National Farmers' Union (NFU) said that if an outbreak occurred, the new register would enable authorities to...
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Italian poultry sales have dropped by 30 to 40 pct in recent days over fears of bird flu, after the disease was detected in poultry in Turkey and Romania, the Italian farmers' confederation said.
'It's a vertical drop for Italian chicken,' the confederation added, saying that prices had dropped to the equivalent of sales six years' ago.
The confederation blamed the recent discovery of cases in Turkey and Romania and 'an excessive alarmism' for the drop, which affects the country's 6,000...
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Australia will host a regional summit on bird flu later this month to examine whether Asia-Pacific nations can cope with an outbreak of the deadly virus.
Disaster management co-ordinators from 21 countries will meet in Brisbane on October 31 and November 1 to discuss preparations for a potential avian influenza pandemic in the region.
It will be the first time the experts, from every Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economy, have been brought together.
Observers from the...
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Southeast Asia's agriculture ministers endorsed a regional plan Friday, Sept. 30, to combat avian influenza and pledged to cooperate with international agencies in stamping out the menace -- a move they hope will win enough international aid to halt the disease before it becomes a catastrophic epidemic with the potential to kill millions of people globally.
The ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations said in a statement that "the highly pathogenic avian...
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Indonesia will slaughter poultry and pigs in areas most infected by bird flu, 10 days after a fourth person died from the disease, a minister said today.
The government also plans to draft a law that will allow it to punish farmers who refuse to kill their poultry, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono told reporters after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss ways to halt the spread of the avian influenza virus.
Indonesia confirmed its first bird-flu deaths on...
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EGG producers in the UK could lose their free range status if chickens are kept indoors to stop them catching bird flu, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) warned days ago.
The fears come as the Dutch government brings in similar measures to stop commercially farmed poultry catching bird flu from wildfowl.
A strain of the virus has already spread into Russia and there are fears that it could reach continental Europe.
Charles Bourne, the NFU's poultry board chairman, said there was...
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An outbreak of a mild form of avian influenza was reported in Japan today, as the World Health Organization (WHO) voiced concern about the recent spread of H5N1 avian flu to Russia and Kazakhstan.
Japan's Ministry of Agriculture reported that chickens at a farm in Konosu, near Tokyo, had tested positive for avian flu, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. "The virus detected is of the H5 variety but is considered to be a weaker type because no mass deaths occurred at the farm," the...
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A bird flu outbreak in Siberia could soon spread to Europe, health officials warned yesterday. The potentially fatal H5N1 strain has reached the Ural Mountains, which separate Europe from Asia.
It is feared migratory birds flying to warmer climes could spread the virus to the Mediterranean and Middle East by autumn or spring. More than 11,000 fowl have been culled in the Chelyabinsk region of Siberia, where several geese, ducks and chicken have caught the virus.
An isolation ward has...
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