Officials quarantine western Kentucky poultry farm after bird flu discovered

[Kassy]

Officials quarantine western Kentucky poultry farm after bird flu discovered

By Roger Alford



FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - State and federal authorities are investigating an outbreak of bird flu on a poultry farm in western Kentucky.

State Veterinarian Robert C. Stout said the strain discovered is "nonpathogenic or low-pathogenic" and poses a minimal risk to human health. Stout said it is not the "high pathogenic strain" associated with human and poultry deaths in other countries.

Stout quarantined the farm, which produces hatching eggs for Perdue Farms Inc. He said some 20,000 chickens have been euthanized.

"It does occur naturally in wild birds and it can spread to domestic birds, which is why we have the occurrence in Kentucky," said Cindy Ragin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "This is something that is not uncommon."

Stout declined to identify the farm, but he said it is near Brownsville in Edmondson County.

"The state and federal government and Perdue are acting aggressively to contain and eliminate the disease," Stout said. "There is no evidence that any infected poultry are in the human food supply as a result of this infection. We will do what is necessary to minimize the disruption to overseas trade."

Already, Stout said, Japan and Russia have banned imports of poultry from Kentucky.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture is conducting surveillance on backyard flocks within a two-mile radius of the farm.

"The people of Kentucky and our trading partners should rest assured that we are doing everything possible to address the situation," Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said.

Stout said a minimal drop in egg production at the farm was noticed in mid-March. Perdue's veterinary services laboratory took samples from chickens at the farm and found antibodies for avian influenza.

Testing by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, resulted in a presumptive positive finding for the H7 strain. Subsequent testing by NVSL and the Breathitt Veterinary Center in Hopkinsville confirmed the finding.

Stout said it was the first confirmed case of bird flu in Kentucky.

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D97DONPG0

[Kassy]

OIE report via ProMed. They're not usually this quick with details in the US but that's the advantage of having such a detection network:

Low pathogenic avian influenza (poultry), United States of America
------------------------------------------------------------------
Information received on 6 Apr 2009 from Dr John Clifford, Deputy
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United
States Department of Agriculture, Washington, United States of America

Summary
Report type Immediate notification
Start date 31 Mar 2009
Date of 1st confirmation of the event 31 Mar 2009
Report date 6 Apr 2009
Date submitted to OIE 6 Apr 2009
Reason for notification Recurrence of a listed disease
Date of previous occurrence October 2008
Manifestation of disease Sub-clinical infection
Causal agent Low pathogenic avian influenza virus Serotype H7N9
Nature of diagnosis Laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to a defined zone within the country

New outbreaks

Outbreak 1 - Grayson County, Grayson County, Kentucky
Date of start of the outbreak 31 Mar 2009
Outbreak status Continuing (or date resolved not provided)
Epidemiological unit Farm

Affected animals: Species Birds
Susceptible 20 000
Cases -
Deaths - 0
Destroyed 20 000
Slaughtered 0

Affected population A commercial poultry broiler-breeder operation
consisting of 2 poultry broiler-breeder houses with 20 000 birds that
were 49 weeks old.

Summary of outbreaks
Total outbreaks: 1
Outbreak statistics:
Species Birds
Apparent morbidity rate **
Apparent mortality rate 0.00 percent
Apparent case fatality rate **
Proportion susceptible animals lost* 100.00 percent

* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction
and/or slaughter
** Not calculated because of missing information

Epidemiology
Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection *Unknown or inconclusive

Epidemiological comments
31 Mar 2009: a National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) laboratory
reported seropositive results for avian influenza. The birds were
being tested as part of the NPIP Avian Influenza.

Clean Program (H5 and H7) for breeding facilities. No clinical signs,
other than a modest drop in egg production, were reported. There was
no increase in mortality.

1 Apr 2009: Enhanced surveillance at the broiler-breeding operation
was implemented, and additional laboratory samples were taken.

There were no clinical indications of disease at the time of
diagnostic testing.

2 Apr 2009: The National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL)
confirmed H7 RRT-PCR and hemagglutinin subtype as H7 positive.

Laboratory testing is continuing, but to date, no virus has been isolated.

Kentucky State animal health officials, in coordination with USDA
APHIS Veterinary Services, implemented the LPAI response plan in
accordance with the Kentucky Initial State Response and Containment
Plan for H5 and H7 LPAI.

Implementation included:
An enhanced surveillance zone of 10 km (6.2 miles) was implemented as
outlined in the plan. There are 4 farms, all breeder facilities and
all owned by the same company, within the 10-km radius of the
positive premises. Laboratory samples were collected and submitted
from all 4 farms. Surveillance of backyard poultry flocks is being
conduced within a 3-km (2-mile) radius of the premises.

4 Apr 2009: NVSL reported that sera tested by hemagglutination
inhibition test and neuraminidase inhibition test were seropositive
for H7N9

4 Apr 2009: As a precautionary measure, all birds in the 2 houses
were depopulated.

5 Apr 2009: All laboratory samples collected from the enhanced
surveillance on the 4 breeding facilities yielded negative laboratory
results for avian influenza.

Note by the OIE Animal Health Information Department: H5 and H7 avian
influenza in its low pathogenic form in poultry is a notifiable
disease as per Chapter 10.4. on avian influenza of the Terrestrial
Animal Health Code (2008).

Control measures:

Measures applied:
* Stamping out
* Quarantine
* Zoning
* Vaccination prohibited
* No treatment of affected animals

Measures to be applied:
* Disinfection of infected premises/establishment(s)

Diagnostic test results

Laboratory name and type National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP)
laboratory (Local laboratory)
Tests and results:
Species - Test - Test date - Result
Birds - agar-gel immunodiffusion (AGID) - 31 Mar 2009 - Positive

Laboratory name and type National Veterinary Services Laboratory
(NVSL) (National laboratory)
Tests and results:
Species - Test - Test date - Result
Birds - agar-gel immunodiffusion (AGID) - 5 Apr 2009 - Negative
Birds - enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) - 5 Apr 2009 - Negative
Birds - hemagglutination inhibition test (HIT) - 4 Apr 2009 - Positive
Birds - neuraminidase inhibition assay - 4 Apr 2009 - Positive
Birds - real-time reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction
(RRT-PCR) - 2 Apr 2009 - Positive
Birds - real-time reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction
(RRT-PCR) - 4 Apr 2009 - Positive

Future Reporting
The event is continuing. Weekly follow-up reports will be submitted.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Susan Baekeland

[Note that not a single bird was sick; this "outbreak" was detected by
serological surveillance, and cost the company 20 000 broiler-breeders
culled.

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001:634136680583463::NO::F2400_P1001_BAC K_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,76966

[Kassy]

Officials: Bird flu did not spread to poultry farm in KY

FRANKFORT, KY (AP) - State Veterinarian Robert Stout said an outbreak of bird flu on a western Kentucky chicken farm did not spread to nearby backyard poultry flocks.

Stout said animal health workers tested flocks within a two-mile radius of the Brownsville chicken farm for signs of the "non-pathogenic or low-pathogenic" strain of avian in fluenza.

He said Thursday no additional cases were found in initial tests, and additional tests are pending.

The state is developing plans to expand the testing radius for backyard flocks to more than six miles.

The Kentucky Department for Public Health said there is no evidence the disease has been transmitted from birds to humans.

The disease was detected after testing by Perdue Farms Inc. and state and national laboratories when a minor drop in egg production was noticed last month.

http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=10161465