The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that it had detected the presence of bird flu in two other farms after the first case registered last week, putting the sector on greater alert.
The agency had already observed the disease in wild birds several times on the US East Coast in recent weeks, announcing the discovery of a case on an Indiana farm on February 9.
On Monday it reported that two other farms had been impacted, in the states of Kentucky and Virginia (central east).
The US authorities ordered their quarantine and the birds raised there will be slaughtered to prevent further spread in the country, the world’s largest poultry producer, according to the USDA.
No human cases have been detected and the outbreak does not represent an immediate public health problem, according to the authorities.
But the industry remains vigilant to prevent a repeat of the 2015 bird flu outbreak, which infected 211 farms in 15 states.
Carcasses of 50 million birds were killed or incinerated after that outbreak and several countries suspended imports. The Department estimated total losses at about $3.3 billion.
Meanwhile, Europe is already experiencing an outbreak of bird flu, with more than 18 million birds culled in Italy and around three million in France since the first cases were detected on farms in late November.
Source: Gestion
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