February 10, 2004

US Claims Bird Flu Outbreak Contained

The bird flu outbreak in Delaware has been contained now that quarantine and surveillance measures have been put in place to contain it, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief veterinarian said Monday.

Ron DeHaven said Delaware officials have "put restrictions on movement of birds from all premises within a two-mile radius and are doing intensive surveillance testing within a six-mile ... radius."

DeHaven stressed that preliminary tests done by USDA show that the Delaware outbreak virus is an H7 type, not the H5 type plaguing some Asian countries and believed to have sickened humans.

He downplayed the Delaware outbreak, saying it did not come as a surprise because avian influenza of that type is common in the U.S.

"This is the time of the year that we very commonly and not unexpectedly find some outbreaks of avian influenza," he said. "In this case ... the awareness is simply heightened because of the activity in Asia with a very highly pathogenic form of the virus ..."

DeHaven said USDA believes that the avian influenza found in Delaware is a low-pathogenic type, but he stressed further tests are being done to confirm that.