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 Wild birds are thought to be carriers of the flu virus, which can be
tracked onto poultry farms by people or trucks that come into
contact with contaminated feces. It may also be carried into barns
by wind blowing in contaminated dirt or dust.
U.S. and state officials had thought that quarantining infected
farms and killing birds would prevent the virus from moving to
neighboring farms.
However, veterinarians now think the disease was transmitted between
farms, Bill Hartmann, executive director of the Minnesota Board of
Animal Health, told reporters on a conference call. He did not have
more details.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which until now has focused on
water fowl spreading the bird flu, is investigating "the potential
transmission of virus between operations," a spokeswoman said. There
are a number of ways the virus may be introduced to farms, she
added.
Virulent H5 avian influenza strains have spread to 14 states in five
months and affected about 26 million birds in the worst outbreak of
the disease in U.S. history, according to the USDA.
In Minnesota, the biggest U.S. turkey producing state, delays in the
killing of infected poultry flocks may have led to "a couple of
cases" of the flu spreading from one farm to another, said Steve
Olson, executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers
Association.
Delays could have kept the virus on infected farms for longer than
desired, allowing the wind to blow contaminated particles to a
nearby facility, he said.
Government officials hire workers to kill birds from infected
flocks, and normally try to kill them within two to three days after
infections are confirmed, Olson said.
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Minnesota was "a few days behind at some point" on culling infected
flocks, but has since caught up, he said.
Wednesday was the first day since April 15 when no new infections
were reported in Minnesota, the state's board of animal health said.
Last month, on a conference call about Minnesota's outbreak, John
Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinarian, said the agency was
preventing the spread of the disease between farms.
If confirmed, a lateral spread "would represent a failure in
biosecurity," said John Glisson, vice president of research for the
U.S. Poultry and Egg Association.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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