ST. PAUL (August 5, 2009) — With the recent report of avian influenza in a turkey flock in Meeker County, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health is reminding poultry producers and owners of backyard flocks to observe sound biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of AI.
In the case of the Meeker County detection, samples were collected from the commercial turkey flock and submitted to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, where the virus was confirmed as avian influenza subtype H7N9 this week. The birds appear healthy and show no sign of infection. The poultry on the premises have been quarantined by the BAH.
As a result of this finding, the Board is following the state’s response and containment plan by establishing a surveillance zone around the operation. All flocks within three miles will be repeatedly tested for the virus for six weeks, along with any flocks linked to the farm.
“This infection is causing no illness in turkeys, but it should serve as a reminder to all of us involved with animal agriculture,” said Minnesota Board of Animal Health Assistant Director and Minnesota Poultry Testing Laboratory
Director Dale Lauer. “We need to be vigilant in observing the strictest possible biosecurity to protect our animals.”
According to Lauer, it is not uncommon to find evidence of AI viruses in domestic poultry flocks. Various forms of AI are detected every year as a result of routine surveillance testing by animal health officials. Rather than actual virus identification, detections usually involve the discovery of virus antibodies produced by the birds’ immune systems during past exposure to an AI virus. Less frequently, an actual virus may be detected in a bird.
The Meeker County case is the first incident this year in which officials have confirmed the presence of a virus.
“AI is a fact of life in poultry production because the virus is endemic in wild birds, which can then pass it on to domestic birds,” Lauer said. “These introductions are identified, isolated and eliminated thanks to the cooperation between the Board and the poultry industry. As the country’s No. 1 turkey producing state, Minnesota has a robust network for AI surveillance and response. Minnesota turkey remains safe.”
Although the current case has caused no illness in Minnesota poultry, the virus, if left unchecked, can change into a form that could be lethal to domestic turkeys and chickens. AI is not a food safety concern, as it is not transmitted through consumption of properly cooked poultry. Although some H7 AI viruses can occasionally cause mild eye infections or mild respiratory symptoms in poultry workers, this has not been the case so far. The Minnesota Department of Health continues to monitor fewer than 20 workers who have had contact with the infected birds.
More information on the state’s surveillance program, AI, or the BAH is available at www.bah.state.mn.us.
Poultry
Latest AI detection prompts BAH to remind producers of need for strict biosecurity
<i>Meeker County poultry showed no signs of illness; flock quarantined to minimize spread</i>
- Poultry
-
-
Cover story: 4-H poultry is taking flight
Poultry numbers, breed diversity are on the rise in 4-H events across the state.
-
Commentary: HSUS - wolves in sheep's clothing
In 2008, Dan Mathews, vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said, "when you consider any movement for social change, it's really got to be seen as a generational one.
-
Farm and Food File: Alabama fried chicken - antitrust chief taking your calls
In a morning session of the May 21 U.S. Department of Justice-Department of Agriculture workshop on ag and antitrust enforcement, Alabama poultry grower Garry Staples told officials he expected "retaliation" from the firm he grows chickens for because of his participation in that event's discussion of poultry contracts.
-
Farm and Food File: Why, oh why, couldn’t I have grown up to be a meatpacking executive?
Rare is the new year that begins without me wondering how I took a wrong turn on the road of life and became a writer rather than a highly paid, universally respected, heaven-bound meatpacking executive.
-
USDA final rule to improve transparency and equity in poultry market
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration will publish a final rule tomorrow to increase fairness and equity in the poultry industry by amending regulations under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to provide poultry growers with new information and improve transparency in poultry growing arrangements.
- Latest AI detection prompts BAH to remind producers of need for strict biosecurity Minnesota Board of Animal Health is reminding poultry producers and owners of backyard flocks to observe sound biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of AI.
-
Ashby opens new USDA inspected poultry processing plant
Entrepreneurs Darrin and Trent Froemming are launching a sparkling, stainless steel, custom poultry processing plant that they hope will soon be processing over 200,000 birds per year.
-
Benson plant generates power from turkey litter
The new turkey litter-fired power plant in Benson "... sits at the intersection of two national obsessions: an appetite for lean meat and a demand for alternative fuels.”
- Turkey growers sound off on new Fibrominn plant As you might expect, you’ll hear plenty of both pros and cons about the Fibrominn plant in Benson, and what it’s doing to the Minnesota turkey litter market.
- Egg processor hatching new products, fiscal growth It’s not every corporate annual meeting where shareholders walk into the meeting room to find the wonderful smell of omelets being prepared by a chef, and egg product samples placed on the tables.
- More Poultry Headlines
-
