March 9, 2004

US Bird Flu Tests In Maryland Negative
 
Agriculture authorities in Maryland breathed a sigh of relief when laboratory tests conducted over the weekend on farms in a two mile radius of the infected farm turned out negative.
 
An additional two farms outside the two-mile zone that were considered closely related to the single positive farm also tested negative, the state's Department of Agriculture reported in a news release.
 
The tests were conducted at the University of Delaware's Lasher Laboratory.
 
"This is an encouraging start to our efforts to find any and all possible avian influenza-positive flocks," said Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Lewis Riley in the release. "We will be collecting samples from all of the 63 farms between the two- and six-mile zones around the positive farm through this week and hope that the results remain negative. To help contain and eradicate the virus from Delmarva, MDA has imposed restrictions on the movement of poultry and litter that may present challenges for farmers as they begin to prepare their fields for planting."
 
On Friday, when Lasher Laboratory returned the preliminary-positive test results, the company that owns the AI-positive poultry proactively decided to depopulate both the index farm and another closely linked farm, MDA said. On Sunday, a total of 118,000 chickens on the index farm were culled. The company has decided it will proactively go forward with culling the 210,000 chickens from the second farm later this week, even though they have now tested negative for avian influenza.
 
The presence of the H7 strain of avian influenza in the Pocomoke City area flock was confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday. The N component - or type of strain - and pathogenicity is not expected until later this week.
 
All flocks on Delmarva continue to be tested and must test negative for avian influenza before processing, the release said. As of Monday, the combined Lasher/NVSL results reported for the dates mentioned above represent 291 houses on 115 farms. The report brings a total of 2,241 houses representing 943 farms that have been tested for evidence of avian influenza on the Delmarva Peninsula, the release said.
 
Maryland, in coordination with the State of Delaware and the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., has imposed several restrictions under quarantine order to prevent possible spread of the disease.
 
Avian influenza is an airborne respiratory virus that spreads easily among birds through nasal and eye secretions as well as manure. It can spread rapidly from flock to flock and can be carried across great distances by contaminated vehicles, equipment, and clothing, for example. The H7N2 strain currently affecting chickens in Delaware has not been associated with serious human illness.