Turkey Farm Quarantined - A California poultry farm, which houses turkeys and chicken, has been quarantined by authorities after the H5N8 avian virus was detected in sick bird on the farm.
The management of Foster Farms reportedly reached out to the US Department of Agriculture after testing positively for the avian flu among their birds. Further tests by the state authorities confirmed the presence of the deadly H5N8 virus.
The USDA has noted that the outbreak of avian flu in the turkey farm does not pose a serious health risk and that birds from the farm will not be put on the market. Meanwhile, authorities are set to "humanely depopulate" the turkey poultry, where the virus was detected.
The announcement of the discovery of avian flu in the US comes just weeks after the Chinese government made a controversial decision to ban all poultry imports from the country. Despite similar discoveries of strains of avian flu in at least one poultry farm in Washington and another in Oregon in 2014, many experts had accused the Chinese government of overreacting. After the initial discovery of the virus in the US late last year, Hong Kong authorities made a similar decision to stop poultry imports amid fears that the infection could be widespread.
Last year another strain of the avian flu virus was diagnosed in two Canadian poultry farms, and experts say it is possible that the virus is being spread as birds migrate.
In a statement the management of Foster Farms revealed that they have continued to test for avian flu in their flocks since 2000. This is the first time the virus has been detected in the Stanislaus County farm and experts have applauded the quick and decisive response of the farm managers.
