Officials in Washington State are investigating
a confirmed outbreak of avian influenza in a second area where almost 50 birds
died at a backyard flock in Benton City, Wash.
The discoveries are not far from the outbreaks
in poultry flocks in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia.
It’s a flight path for migratory birds commonly
blamed for the outbreaks.
The discovery comes nearly a month after the discovery of bird flu in pintail ducks and a
wild duck in Oregon and Washington states.
Officials of the the Washington State Dept. of
Agriculture are working with a federal government lab in Ames, Iowa, to
determine which version of the virus affected the latest flock, according to a report in The Capitol Press.
U.S. authorities stress that the avian flu has
not affected commercial poultry flocks there despite the discovery of the virus
among a domestic flock in Washington State for the first time.
Meanwhile, India is blaming the potential
spread of bird flu from U.S. poultry imports for launching a ban on U.S.
chicken products, especially drumsticks, according to the The Economic Times.
The Indian government is also appealing an order from the World Health
Organization to lift some of the curbs as per-capita consumption of chicken in
India continues to rise.
In China, about 13,000 chickens were culled chickens
exported to Hong Kong in recent weeks tested positive for the H7N9 strain of
avian influenza.
