Thursday, June 7, 2012

Bird flu detected on a large poultry farm in Russia

By Vlasdislav Vorotnikov, 07-Jun-2012


Russian veterinary services have warned that avian flu, which is currently spreading through south-east Asia, has been found on a large poultry farm in eastern Russia.

The Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) has identified a strain of low-pathogenic avian influenza type A, subtype H9, after studying pathological material from poultry at one of the facilities of Amurski Broiler, one of the largest poultry farms in the Primorsk Territory. According to the deputy head of Rosselkhoznadzor Nikolai Vlasov, this H9 subtype of influenza is not harmful to humans and usually does not lead to significant health problems or the death of birds. However, when the virus is in contact with poultry that has no immunity to it, the infection can spread and cause high mortality, resulting in serious economic losses for poultry producers.
A statement from Rosselkhoznadzor said: “There is reason to suppose that there is an infection among poultry stock in the facility, caused by the specified agent of bird flu. When a low-pathogenic virus is circulating among non-immune poultry stock, its pathogenicity could increase. Rosselkhoznadzor considers it necessary to warn of a possible outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
....
At the beginning of March, around 7,000 birds died at one of Amurski Broiler’s facilities, although it is not clear whether this incident was connected to an outbreak of avian influenza. Rosselkhoznadzor has yet to comment on the incident.
According to preliminary data, the virus has also been detected in migratory birds and wild waterfowl birds in both the Amur region and Primorsk Territory.


http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Bird-flu-detected-on-a-large-poultry-farm-in-Russia?utm_source=RSS_text_news&utm_medium=RSS%2Bfeed&utm_campaign=RSS%2BText%2BNews

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