LPAI H7N9 Chicken Farm Giles County Tennessee

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TN has detected low path H7N9 at chicken farm in Giles County, TN suggesting Lincoln County outbreak began as LPAI.

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Poultry Flock Tests Positive for Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza

Thursday, March 09, 2017 | 12:09pm

NASHVILLE — The state veterinarian confirms that a flock of chickens at a commercial poultry breeding operation has tested positive for low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI).

This chicken breeding operation is located in Giles County, Tenn. The company that operates it is a different company from the one associated with the recent detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Lincoln County. At this time, officials do not believe one premises sickened the other.

On March 6, routine screening tests at the Giles County premises indicated the presence of avian influenza in the flock. State and federal laboratories confirmed the existence of H7N9 LPAI in tested samples.

“This is why we test and monitor for avian influenza,” State Veterinarian Dr. Charles Hatcher said. “When routine testing showed a problem at this facility, the operators immediately took action and notified our lab. That fast response is critical to stopping the spread of this virus.”

As a precaution, the affected flock was depopulated and has been buried. The premises is under quarantine. Domesticated poultry within a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) radius of the site are also under quarantine and are being tested and monitored for illness. To date, all additional samples have tested negative for avian influenza and no other flocks within the area have shown signs of illness.

The primary difference between LPAI and HPAI is mortality rate in domesticated poultry. A slight change to the viral structure can make a virus deadly for birds. Avian influenza virus strains often occur naturally in wild migratory birds without causing illness in those birds. With LPAI, domesticated chickens and turkeys may show little or no signs of illness. However, HPAI is often fatal for domesticated poultry.

The Giles County LPAI incident is similar to the Lincoln County HPAI incident in that both the low pathogenic and highly pathogenic viruses are an H7N9 strain of avian influenza. USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirms the H7N9 virus that affected the Lincoln County premises is of North American wild bird lineage. It is not the same as the China H7N9 virus affecting Asia and is genetically distinct.

The Lincoln County premises affected by HPAI remains under quarantine. To date, all additional poultry samples from the area surrounding that site have tested negative for avian influenza and no other flocks within the area have shown signs of illness. Testing and monitoring continues.

Neither LPAI nor HPAI pose a risk to the food supply. No affected animals entered the food chain. The risk of a human becoming ill with avian influenza during poultry outbreaks is very low. However, out of an abundance of caution, officials with the Tennessee Department of Health and Tennessee Department of Agriculture are working together to monitor the health of individuals who are working on either premises or had contact with affected birds. 

The plan for the control of avian influenza includes coordination of local, county, state and federal resources and response, and protocols for quarantine, testing, disposal, cleaning, disinfection and monitoring.

Owners of commercial and backyard poultry flocks are encouraged to closely observe their birds.

• Report a sudden increase in the number of sick birds or bird deaths to the state veterinarian’s office at 615- 837-5120 and/or USDA at 1-866-536-7593.
• Prevent contact with wild birds.
• Practice good biosecurity with your poultry.
• Enroll in the National Poultry Improvement Plan.
• Follow Tennessee’s avian influenza updates and access resources for producers and consumers.

The state veterinarian and staff are focused on animal health and disease prevention. Each year, the Kord Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory tests approximately 22,000 samples from poultry for avian flu.

- See more at: https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/news/49066#sthash.5EsIZ10A.dpuf

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Bird flu found at second commercial chicken farm in TN

47 mins ago by ClarksvilleNow.com

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GILES COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – Another flock of chickens in Tennessee has tested positive for the bird flu.

A state veterinarian confirms a low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) was found at a commercial poultry breeding operation in Giles County.

Routine screening completed on March 6 revealed the virus was present and it as then confirmed in both state and federal laboratories.

Another strain of bird flu was found at a Tyson Foods supplier earlier this week.

The affected block was depopulated and buried, and the area is under quarantine. Domesticated poultry within 6.2 miles of the site are also under quarantine and being tested.

To date, all additional samples have tested negative for avian influenza and no other flocks within the area have shown signs of illness.

“This is why we test and monitor for avian influenza,” State Veterinarian Dr. Charles Hatcher said. “When routine testing showed a problem at this facility, the operators immediately took action and notified our lab. That fast response is critical to stopping the spread of this virus.”

While the company affected wasn’t identified, officials said it is not Tyson Foods, which was affected earlier this week and had to euthanize 73,500 chickens in Lincoln County.

Officials also said Thursday they do not believe one premises sickened the other.

At Tyson Foods, veterinarians detected another strain of the flu, highly pathogenic avian influence (HPAI). State officials say the primary difference between LPAI and HPAI is mortality rate in domesticated poultry.

Avian influenza virus strains often occur naturally in wild migratory birds without causing illness in those birds. With LPAI, domesticated chickens and turkeys may show little or no signs of illness. However, HPAI is often fatal for domesticated poultry.

http://clarksvillenow.com/local/bird-flu-found-at-second-commercial-chicken-farm-in-tn/

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Video of State Vet

 

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State Lab Director Testing Procedures

 

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UPDATE 1-Low-pathogenic bird flu strikes Tennessee chickens

Thu Mar 9, 2017 10:52pm GMT

 

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(Adds that birds were culled, USDA comment, background)

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, March 9 (Reuters) - A commercial chicken flock in Tennessee has been culled after becoming infected with low-pathogenic bird flu, the state's agriculture department said on Thursday, days after a more dangerous form of the disease killed poultry in a neighboring county.

Authorities killed chickens at the site in Giles County, Tennessee, "as a precaution," and buried them, according to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. It said officials did not believe birds at the site sickened chickens infected with highly pathogenic flu in Lincoln County last week, or vice versa.

Highly pathogenic bird flu is often fatal for domesticated poultry and led to the deaths of about 50 million birds, mostly egg-laying hens, in the United States in 2014 and 2015. Low-pathogenic flu is less serious and can cause coughing, depression and other symptoms in birds.

The highly pathogenic case in Tennessee was the first such infection in a commercial U.S. operation in more than a year and heightened fears among chicken producers that the disease may return.

The spread of highly pathogenic flu would represent a financial blow for poultry operators because it would kill more birds or require flocks to be culled. It also would trigger more import bans from other countries, after South Korea, Japan and other nations limited imports because of the case in Lincoln County.

Jack Shere, chief veterinary officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said in an interview that there was speculation that the highly pathogenic virus found in Tennessee shared similar characteristics with a low-pathogenic virus that circulated in Tennessee, Kentucky, Minnesota and Illinois in 2009.

Wild migratory birds can carry flu viruses without showing symptoms and spread them to poultry through feces or feathers or other contact.

"This virus can mutate very easily so low-pathogenic issues are just as important - when they are circulating among the wild birds - as the high-pathogenic issues," Shere said.

Both cases in Tennessee were located along the state's southern border near Alabama, one of the country's top producers of "broiler" chickens for meat.

The cases also were both in facilities for breeding chickens for broilers and involved the H7N9 strain, according to Tennessee's agriculture department. In Lincoln County, all 73,500 birds there were killed by the disease or suffocated with foam to prevent its spread.

H7N9 is the same name as a strain of the virus that has killed people in China. The USDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said the Tennessee virus is genetically distinct from the one in China, though.

"Obviously we're all on a heightened alert," said Jim Sumner, president of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, a trade group.

Low pathogenic bird flu also was recently found on a turkey farm in Wisconsin. (Additional reporting by Mark Weinraub in Washington, D.C.; Editing by G Crosse and Richard Chang)

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL2N1GM272?sp=true