|
 The announcement, which gives authorities powers to enforce
preventative measures, was made soon after state agriculture
officials announced four new poultry farms had initially tested
positive for the virus.
Iowa, the top egg-producing state in the United States, is the third
state to declare a state of emergency because of the viral outbreak,
which either has led or will lead to the extermination of up to 21
million chickens and turkeys nationwide.
Minnesota and Wisconsin declared states of emergency in April.
Iowa's state of emergency is effective immediately now and will be
in force until at least the end of May, depending on developments in
the outbreak, Branstad told a news conference.
 The measure expands the efforts of the state's emergency response
plan, and authorizes various state entities access to additional
resources, supplies and equipment to track and contain the influenza
outbreak. It also allows for the removal and disposal of infected
animals on either public or private lands and lifts weight
restrictions on trucks hauling culled flocks, among other things.
In addition, the action allows the state and local law enforcement
to set up checkpoints and road blocks anywhere in the state,
including areas outside of quarantined farms.
"While the avian influenza outbreak does not pose a risk to humans,
we are taking the matter very seriously," Branstad said in a
statement.
Dozens of countries have imposed total or partial bans on U.S.
poultry and poultry imports since the outbreak of avian influenza
was discovered in December.
[to top of second column] |
As of Friday afternoon, Iowa officials said, 21 farm sites in 10
Iowa counties had been identified as having either confirmed or
presumed positive cases of the highly pathogenic H5 strain of bird
flu.
The tally includes the nine Iowa farms that tested positive in the
past 24 hours, including a commercial egg operation housing up to
5.5 million birds in Buena Vista County, and a separate egg-laying
farm that houses 1 million birds in Madison County, according to
Iowa's agriculture department.
So far, an estimated 16 million egg-laying chickens in Iowa are in
infected or presumed infected farm facilities - meaning that at
least one-quarter of the state's flock will have to be killed and
disposed of, state officials said.
(Reporting By P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Frances Kerry)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
