home

Bird Flu Found At Tennessee Chicken Farm

The year's first case of U.S. bird flu has been found at a chicken farm in Tennessee which is under contract to Tyson Foods. Tyson says it will euthanize 73,500 affected chickens. The farm, along with 20 poultry farms within a 6 mile radius, are now under quarantine.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this represented the first confirmed case of highly pathogenic H7 avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial poultry in the United States this year. It is the first time HPAI has been found in Tennessee, the state government said.

[More...]

Tyson, the biggest chicken meat producer in the United States, said in a statement it was working with Tennessee and federal officials to contain the virus by euthanizing the birds on the contract farm.

This will not be good for Tyson Foods.

Tyson says there is no evidence that a properly cooked chicken could transmit any form of avian influenza.

"In the unlikely event that any chickens affected by avian influenza were ever processed, there's no evidence to suggest that any form of avian influenza can be transmitted to humans from properly cooked poultry."

I would think most people touch the chicken when removing it from the package before they cook it. Should they wear gloves? Given these stats, I would think so.

Although unlikely, if contracted HPAI carries a mortality rate of 90% to 100%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reuters reports South Korea has already instituted a ban on importing U.S. poultry and eggs. Japan and Taiwan are blocking poultry from Tennessee, and Hong Kong will ban poultry imports from Lincoln County. (no link due to auto-play video)

How do you euthanize a chicken? In this case, it was done by suffocating them with foam.

The farms in these parts of the country (TN, AL) raise "broiler chickens" and the area is known as "the broiler belt."

The infected farm housed roosters and hens that produced fertilized eggs, which hatch into the "broiler" chickens raised for meat. Often, such facilities have even higher security measures than farms raising birds for slaughter because the breeding animals are more valuable.

"The thing that's worrisome is that it's in the broiler belt," said John Glisson, vice president of research for the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association....Just in Alabama, across the border from the infected farm, producers raised more than 1 billion broiler chickens in 2015.

The USDA says the strain of virus that struck the farm had a "North American wild bird lineage."

The spokesman for a chicken-industry group praised the farm owner for "practicing pretty good biosecurity" because only 1 of the 8 chicken houses on his farm was affected.

The owner of the farm said he will bury the remains of the 73,500 killed chickens on the property.

< Republican's Unveil Their Inadequate Health Care Bill | Ex-Spy Comes In From the Cold >
  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


  • Display: Sort:
    Too bad because (none / 0) (#1)
    by fishcamp on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 11:10:06 AM EST
    Mike Tyson was a great guy and very environmentally aware.  I met him a few times fishing in Costa Rica and St. Thomas.  He had a beautiful 63' sport fisherman that travelled the fishing circuit, and was named Tyson's Pride.  We called it the Chicken Coop.

     They had set up a tiny but excellent darkroom in one of the heads.  The captain asked me to show one of the mates how to develop film, and make prints.  It takes years to learn that event, so whenever we saw them I was invited over for a lavish dinner followed by tedious darkroom work.  It was actually fun.

    LOL, that's funny (none / 0) (#2)
    by NYShooter on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 11:54:21 AM EST
    This was a joke, right?

    RIGHT?

    Parent

    The boxer? (none / 0) (#3)
    by desertswine on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 02:47:28 PM EST
    Iron Mike... (none / 0) (#4)
    by kdog on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 02:54:25 PM EST
    is into pigeons, not chickens.

    Parent
    Donald J, not Iron Mike. (none / 0) (#5)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 02:59:01 PM EST
    Donald, correct Donald. (none / 0) (#7)
    by fishcamp on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 03:11:33 PM EST
    Thank you.

    Parent
    Not the same Mike Tyson shooter. (none / 0) (#6)
    by fishcamp on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 03:10:35 PM EST
    I'm blaming it on (none / 0) (#8)
    by fishcamp on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 03:13:34 PM EST
    mind auto correct.

    Stop eating them southern chickens (none / 0) (#9)
    by vicndabx on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 03:20:36 PM EST
    I hear you, Fish. (none / 0) (#10)
    by NYShooter on Tue Mar 07, 2017 at 04:09:18 PM EST
    I don't get to chat with you these days (or, anyone else for that matter) so, I hope you're not offended at my little tickle.

    But, since I've got you're ear for a couple of minutes there's something I've been meaning to ask you. You, being a world traveler, and, a hob-knobber of the rich and famous, I've been wondering if your travels have ever taken you to Manhattan Beach, Ca? I'm primarily talking about the early 70's, or, around that time?

    After I got back from my almost three year vacation in SE Asia, me, and an Air Force buddy of mine did the obligatory bum trek tour of the U.S.A. and, happily, ended up in Manhattan Beach. Anyway, if you're familiar with it, we can have a lot to talk about; if not, then.......never mind. (imagine a smiley face.)

    later.....

    Parent

    Yes Shooter (none / 0) (#11)
    by fishcamp on Wed Mar 08, 2017 at 07:54:19 AM EST
    back in the 60's and 70's we used to come out of the mountains to the beaches around L A.  We got sunburned, and surfed Manhattan, Redondo, and Hermosa Beaches regularly.  We spring ski raced around the Sierras, where we met many surfers skiing and working, so we often visited them for a few days, before heading back to mainly Mammoth Mtn.  We had a spring training camp up there that most of us attended for a couple of months every year.  Later I migrated down to Seal Beach, and Laguna Beach, finally ending up working at a surfboard joint in San Diego.  Lotta fun back then.