Archive | April 3, 2017
55,000 chickens to be killed due to another bird flu outbreak in Tennessee, USA
A second case of bird flu in Tennessee has been reported at a chicken farm, heightening the threat from the disease in the U.S. southeast, the country’s biggest poultry region.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza — which can be fatal to domesticated poultry — was found at a commercial chicken-breeder farm in Lincoln County, Tennessee, the state’s agriculture department said Thursday in a statement. The case comes after a chicken farm that was less than 2 miles (3 kilometers) away had reported the deadly virus in early March, the first incident in the U.S. in more than a year. Both farms were contracted with Tyson Foods Inc., according to company spokesman Worth Sparkman.
“Given the close proximity of the two premises, this is not unexpected,” Charles Hatcher, Tennessee state veterinarian, said in the statement. “We will continue to execute our plan, working quickly to prevent the virus from spreading further.”
Shares of Tyson, the largest U.S. chicken company, dropped 1.7 percent to close at $62 in New York on Thursday. The stock earlier fell as much as 3 percent, the biggest intraday decline since March 6. Rival poultry producer Sanderson Farms Inc. declined 1.6 percent and Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. slid 1 percent.
While countries across Europe and Asia are also battling with bird flu outbreaks, Brazil, the world’s leading chicken exporter, has remained free of the disease. BRF SA, the country’s largest chicken exporting company, rose as much as 4.5 percent after the news of the second Tennessee case.
55,000 Chickens
The affected flock had 55,000 chickens, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture statement. The farm has been quarantined, and the birds will be destroyed to prevent the disease’s spread. The virus reported at both farms was an H7N9 strain from North American wild-bird lineage.
Since the initial Tennessee report, South Korea banned imports of U.S. poultry and some other importing nations restricted product from the state or area affected.
Courtesy of bloomberg.com
25,000 birds dead due to bird flu in Kelantan, Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s northeastern state of Kelantan on Wednesday (Mar 15) declared a disaster to fight the outbreak of H5N1 avian flu after the virus spread to two more districts – Pasir Putih and Bachok.
The highly pathogenic bird flu virus was first detected on Mar 6 after a few free-range chickens died outside the state capital Kota Bharu.
Eighteen villages in Kota Bharu have been affected and almost 25,000 birds – mainly chickens, ducks and geese – have been culled since the infection was reported.
The Kelantan Agriculture and Veterinary Services Department declared the outbreak a state disaster and ordered all agencies and departments to control the outbreak.
The Malaysian Health Ministry’s director general, Noor Hisham, said no human infection has been detected so far but that the ministry is nevertheless on the alert. He added that the virus has not spread to other states, and that the outbreak seems to be contained in Kelantan, which borders Thailand.
The public has been told to take precautions, such as reporting to the authorities if they come into contact with dead birds, and to take care of their personal hygiene.
The state’s veterinary department believes that the virus could have been spread though infected fighting cocks, like in the last outbreak which occurred in 2004. State authorities have asked the community to avoid cockfighting activities for now.
Courtesy of channelnewsasia.com
5,000 goldfish found dead in a lagoon in Western Australia
The investigation into a fish kill incident which resulted in the death of 3000 to 5000 goldfish in a Vasse estuary lagoon on Friday has been closed.
The Department of Water found that in the recent kill of feral goldfish species, it was likely caused by an increase in salinity when seawater was let in through gates on the surge barrier.
The department reported the increase was detected from last Thursday, whereby salinity rose from 12 grams per litre (parts per thousand) to 35 grams per litre (parts per thousand).
Department of Water district manager Dr Kath Lynch reported last Friday that the dead fish were mostly identified as goldfish and no other species had been observed to be affected.
“There will be no pathology as the samples were too decomposed and not suitable,” the department reported.
“Given the dead fish were exclusively goldfish our scientists are confident the salinity contributed to their deaths.”
Ms Lynch said while the numbers of dead fish were significant, the incident didn’t involve native fish populations and was a positive from an environmental management perspective.
“Goldfish are a feral fish species and large numbers are a concern to the ecology of the system,” she said.
“It is likely that letting in seawater through the gates on the surge barrier contributed to these fish deaths as goldfish are freshwater species and intolerant to elevated salinity.
“This is the first time this action has resulted in fish deaths as native fish are estuarine species and tolerant to changes in salinity as normally occurs when water levels are low in the estuary.
“It is likely that the higher water levels and longer periods of freshwater in the system favoured the goldfish population, before seawater was able to mix back into the estuary.”
Ms Lynch said fish kills had been recorded at the Vasse estuary prior to the installation of floodgates and it was normal practice to open and close the gates to allow seawater back into the estuary to maintain minimum water levels over summer periods.
“Using the gates in this way allows passage of fish between the freshwater side of the gates and the seawater side of the gates when the water quality is poor and can also improve oxygen levels in the freshwater side in these instances.”
The floodgates were installed in 1908 to stop flooding of adjacent, low-lying agricultural land with salty seawater and the current barriers were replaced in 2004.
Courtesy of busseltonmail.com.au
Thousands of dead fish appear ‘due to winter ice’ in a lake in Sivas, Turkey
Sivas Hafik district of Lake ice to melt the frozen surface in winter with the start of the Olympic and thousands of dead fish appeared.
Lake ice surface in Sivas Hafik occupied by staying without oxygen who fishes, with the melting of the ice began to emerge.
40 CENTIMETRES of ICE SHEET were COMPOSED
Turkey from the wetlands of international importance, 135 H on the surface of the Lake during the winter months, consisting of about 40 centimeters of ice sheet started to melt, weather heats up.
While high winds in the region effectively, the ice masses and hit the shore of dead fish.
OXYGEN IN THE LAKE 6
Indiana Lake fish deaths primarily because of H in the district, and the Mayor’s Office had made some studies. The Lake, located in Provincial Directorate for food, agriculture and livestock fisheries and Aquaculture Branch teams, fish, surface coated with ice on the Lake for their dead without oxygen.
Courtesy of denizhaber.com.tr
Thousands of dead fish found in a canal in Tainan, Taiwan
Thousands of dead fish found in a canal in Tainan, Taiwan
Courtesy of udn.com
6,200 hens killed due to bird flu in Koshi, Nepal
Nepal has reported firmed an outbreak of severe H5N8 bird flu on a poultry farm in the Koshi region, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Monday, citing a report from the Nepalese authorities.
The virus killed 3,650 of the 6,200 hens exposed, with the remaining animals culled, the Paris-based OIE said.
Nepal had already reported last month an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu among backyard chickens and ducks.
Courtesy of reuters.com
MASSIVE deaths of chickens killed due to bird flu in Cao Bang, Vietnam
VIET NAM – Viet Nam reported outbreaks of avian flu H5N1 and H5N6 in northern Cao Bang province, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) said on Monday.
Accordingly, in 34 households in Quoc Toan community, Cao Bang’s Tra Linh district and one household in Cao Bang City’s Song Bang ward, massive deaths of chicken with unknown reason were recorded, the local Tien Phong (Pioneer) newspaper reported.
Local animal health officials took samples and sent them to the NIHE for tests. The test results showed that dead poultry in Tra Linh district were positive with avian influenza H5N1 while those in Cao Bang City were positive with H5N6 strain.
Cao Bang’s authorities have culled a total of 4,015 chicken and 18 doves as well as sterilized poultry cages and surrounding environment in two virus-hit areas.
The province has over 330 km of shared border with China, where avian influenza H7N9 virus is detected.
Courtesy of thepoultrysite.com
40 dead turtles found since January along the coast of Uruguay
40 dead turtles found since January along the coast of Uruguay
Thousands of cattle dead due from wildfires in Kansas, USA
Rancher David Bouziden lost his home, his ranch and nearly all his cattle in wildfires that swept through Kansas this week.
“I’d say personally we probably lost close to 150 head, maybe,” he said. “That’s probably 90% of our cattle.”
Bouziden barely escaped the blaze, which set a state record for the most widespread single fire. On Monday, he was plowing a fireguard on his ranch in Clark County in Southwest Kansas when flames propelled by near-70 mph winds struck the pasture, he said. The smoke engulfed him, forcing him from his tractor to struggle through soot and ash. He could hardly see, he said, but managed to distinguish the outline of a hay shed where his pickup truck was parked.
Bouziden was able to drive to safety, but nearly all his cows were killed in the fire that consumed his home, three outbuildings, hay barns and machinery sheds.
“It burned every acre of the ranch. There’s not a blade of grass standing out there.”
Bouziden’s family has been in ranching for nearly 100 years, since his grandfather bought a few cattle in the 1930s. “This is all I’ve ever done,” he said.
His experience is typical of ranchers in Kansas this week, where grass fires have scorched more than 650,000 acres, devastating farming and ranching communities.
The destruction has been particularly pronounced in Clark County.
Randall Spare, a veterinarian in Ashland, the county seat, said Wednesday it’s too early to make a guess as to how many cattle were lost in the blazes; ranchers are still trying to assess the damage.
“It’s probably at least 2,000. It could be 6 or 7,000,” he said.
With spring approaching, many of the cows were calving, Bouziden said, and if the calves are added to the count, the number of animals lost could nearly double.
Courtesy of edition.cnn.com
Hundreds of cattle dead from wildfires on the plains of Colorado, USA
Firefighters have contained a grass fire that destroyed four homes and left about 200 head of cattle dead on the plains of northeastern Colorado.
Logan County spokeswoman Marilee Johnson says crews completed containment lines around the fire on Wednesday but were still working to extinguish hot spots, including hay bales.
Johnson says no human injuries were reported from the fire.
Ranchers in adjacent Phillips County reported they lost 200 cattle that were either killed by the fire or had to be killed because of their injuries. Authorities were still trying to determine cattle losses in Logan County.
The Colorado Cattlemen’s Association appealed for donations of cash, hay and fencing supplies.
The fire started Monday in Logan County and quickly spread west to Phillips County ahead of gusty winds. The cause is being investigated.
Courtesy of denver.cbslocal.com
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