(Bloomberg) — The United States will expand avian flu surveillance to its four major bird flyways following an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain killed thousands of turkeys in Indiana.
Officials will monitor and collect samples from poultry that may have any interactions with wild birds from Europe and Asia, where outbreaks have also emerged, according to a release sent this Friday by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA, for its acronym in English). Monitoring has already been underway on the Atlantic and Pacific Coastal Flyways, and will now expand to the Mississippi and Central Flyways, which should help poultry producers take action to protect flocks.
A significant outbreak would threaten food supplies at a time when chicken and turkey prices have already soared, as farmers struggle to hatch enough birds to keep pace with surging global demand for meat.
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Bird Flu Is Back
“Wild bird surveillance provides an early warning system,” the USDA said in the statement.
In January, a highly pathogenic strain was first discovered in the US in a wild Wigeon in South Carolina and then detected in wild birds in North Carolina before being found earlier this week on a commercial farm. turkey farm in Dubois Country, Indiana, where 29,000 turkeys had to be sacrificed. Importers, including Mexico, halted their poultry imports from Indiana following the outbreak.
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U.S. Expands Bird Flu Surveillance After Outbreak on Turkey Farm
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