Mexican H7N3 poultry outbreaks trigger animal health emergency
Mexico's government declared a national animal health emergency yesterday, designed to trigger more intensified efforts to contain a highly pathogenic H7N3 outbreak that has infected almost 1.7 million poultry, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP) today. The emergency declaration expands efforts to control the disease beyond the outbreak area to include the whole country and sets forth plans for quarantine, slaughter, vaccination, and culling of infected birds. The agriculture ministry said in a statement that poultry farming makes up 40% of the country's livestock production and that economic loss from the outbreaks "is and will be irreparable," according to the report. The ministry said about half of the infected birds have died or been culled. The outbreak began on Jun 13 on commercial farms in Jalisco state and is Mexico's first highly pathogenic avian influenza event since the mid 1990s, when farms battled the H5N2 virus. H7N3 rarely infects humans but has been known to cause mild flulike symptoms and conjunctivitis.
Jul 3 AFP story
Jun 26 CIDRAP News story "Tests reveal high-path H7N3 in Mexican poultry farm outbreaks"
Mexico's government declared a national animal health emergency yesterday, designed to trigger more intensified efforts to contain a highly pathogenic H7N3 outbreak that has infected almost 1.7 million poultry, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP) today. The emergency declaration expands efforts to control the disease beyond the outbreak area to include the whole country and sets forth plans for quarantine, slaughter, vaccination, and culling of infected birds. The agriculture ministry said in a statement that poultry farming makes up 40% of the country's livestock production and that economic loss from the outbreaks "is and will be irreparable," according to the report. The ministry said about half of the infected birds have died or been culled. The outbreak began on Jun 13 on commercial farms in Jalisco state and is Mexico's first highly pathogenic avian influenza event since the mid 1990s, when farms battled the H5N2 virus. H7N3 rarely infects humans but has been known to cause mild flulike symptoms and conjunctivitis.
Jul 3 AFP story
Jun 26 CIDRAP News story "Tests reveal high-path H7N3 in Mexican poultry farm outbreaks"
