“The poultry industry is vital to IN and we are bringing all necessary resources to deal with this situation”, said Pence.
Advertisement
Animal health officials responding to a bird flu outbreak in southwest in say crews have finished killing more than 400,000 birds ordered euthanized at the 10 affected commercial poultry farms.
An update from Indiana State Board of Animal Heath (BOAH) on 19 January said that state and federal teams had visited 1248 residences in a 10-kilometre radius control zone around the original site to search for small, backyard flocks of birds for precautionary monitoring and testing.
Authorities say that the turkeys in IN were infected after a “less dangerous” form of the flu mutated, according to Medical Daily. He said that state, industry, and federal sectors worked together to quickly isolate and depopulate the first flock and that efforts are under way to curb the spread of the low-pathogenic version of H7N8.
The total number of birds affected, which will eventually be depopulated, is 401,163.
Culling operations over the past few days have been hampered by extremely cold temperatures, which froze water sources, the IBAH said.
An Indiana avian influenza outbreak has led to the euthanization of about 413,000 birds, 62 percent of them turkeys, and there have been no new cases reported since Saturday. “Nor does it change our resolve to eliminate this virus wherever we find it”.
The avian flu containment area in Dubois county was expanded on Tuesday and more depopulation took place as a precaution to stop the spread of the infection.
Advertisement
The strain confirmed this morning is different from the one that caused the outbreak a year ago; however, the Centers for Disease Control consider the risk of illness to humans to be very low. According to the CDC, people who had contact with sick birds or their environments should be monitored for 10 days, even if contact was minimal and personal protective equipment was properly worn. Symptoms include respiratory problems and pink eye, but can be treated with antiviral medication.
