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 The H5N2 flu discovered in Arkansas last week is the state's first
case of a strain that causes massive internal hemorrhaging in
poultry, can kill nearly every bird in an infected flock within 48
hours, and is prone to mutate. Such strains are sometimes called
"chicken Ebola."
In response, Arkansas is working with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) to create new rules for commercial poultry
producers and owners of backyard flocks alike, Reuters has learned.
The rules will spell out how often poultry within a quarantine zone
must test negative for bird flu before the quarantine can be lifted,
Brandon Doss, Arkansas’ assistant state veterinarian, said. Until
the quarantine is lifted, no poultry within 10 km (6 miles) around
the farm that was infected with bird flu can move in or out of the
area.
The rules being revised were previously used to deal with less
deadly strains of the bird flu in Arkansas.
U.S. authorities are seeking to reassure major buyers of U.S.
chicken, such as Mexico, which imposed new import restrictions last
week. The export market for companies like Tyson Foods Inc and JBS
SA unit Pilgrim's Pride Corp is worth $5.7 billion annually.
Already, Arkansas has established a quarantine zone around a farm
infected with H5N2 and ordered a 24-hour guard to monitor trucks and
people entering and leaving the site and block unauthorized access.
"In all likelihood it will be our largest response effort to date,"
Doss said. Arkansas has 42 commercial operations and at least two
dozen backyard flocks to monitor within its quarantine zone.
Other states with recent H5N2 cases, including Minnesota and
Missouri, have also established quarantine zones around infected
farms and are testing nearby flocks in line with existing U.S.
requirements.
Kansas last week imposed a quarantine in two counties even before a
case of the flu was confirmed on Friday. They took action because of
worry about an infection in neighboring Missouri.
GOING DOOR-TO-DOOR
But it is the Arkansas infection, in particular, that is causing
concern among poultry producers and investors in chicken companies
like Tyson and Sanderson Farms Inc, because the state is among the
top chicken and turkey producers and is near other major poultry
states like Mississippi and Alabama.
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Arkansas poultry have previously suffered from milder cases of low
pathogenic avian flu, which can cause reduced egg production and
respiratory difficulties, among other symptoms. During those
outbreaks, flocks needed to test negative for the virus in a minimum
of two tests administered 10 days apart before quarantines were
lifted, Doss said.
For the more deadly strain discovered last week, "we have not set
that time frame or that protocol yet," he said. "It is still in
development with USDA."
It is not known whether states other than Arkansas are working with
the USDA on new surveillance protocols.
Butterball LLC, the largest U.S. producer of turkey products,
contracts to buy birds from the Arkansas farm infected with the
virus.
Arkansas livestock inspectors, divided into six teams of two people,
are going door-to-door to nearly 1,900 properties within the
quarantine zone to search for backyard flocks that could potentially
be infected, Doss said.
As of late on Friday, they had visited 256 properties and identified
24 with backyard flocks. All will be subject to the new protocols
under discussion by the USDA and the state.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek, editing by Ross Colvin)
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