Details about the latest round of bird flu

EARLIER: Animal health officials investigating a bird flu outbreak in southwest in have ordered 156,000 chickens at one of 10 affected commercial poultry farms to be euthanized, raising the total number of birds to be killed above 400,000. It’s been so cold that foam used to kill the birds has frozen.

Federal and state officials are hoping to contain the viral strain to the 10 IN farms by using quarantines, euthanizing entire stocks of poultry on those farms and aggressively testing nearby poultry farms and backyard flocks.

Limited genetic data from preliminary diagnostic tests last week showed this H7N8 virus originated from North America, while last year’s strains had roots in Europe and Asia, government officials said.

Around 250,000 birds from neighbouring farms are expected to be killed in a bid to stem the spread of the virus. Most foreign trade partners won’t import vaccinated poultry anyway, however, since the test for the flu virus makes it look like birds that have received a vaccine are infected. It’s slowing things down, but we’re doing the best we can, ” said Denise Derrer of the State Board of Animal Health.

Bird flu has found its first victim since the end of last year’s outbreak, and it’s Indiana.

In its statement today, the CDC said no human H7N8 cases have ever been reported in the world, but H7 infections in the past have caused a wide range of symptoms, from just conjunctivitis to severe respiratory illness. The Indiana flock appears to have become infected when a less unsafe form of the virus in the area mutated, said John Clifford, the USDA’s chief veterinarian. “Avian flu is back and even though it is not yet in Maryland, that means “when” is now”.

“The weather’s going to get worse overnight, with the wet snow coming in, so they’re putting the pedal to metal”, she said.

Farmers also have strengthened cleaning and security practices in a bid to keep out the virus, with many requiring workers to change their shoes before entering barns and barring delivery trucks from getting too close to poultry houses.