June 21, 2004

Second Round Of Avian Flu Testing Begins In US Texas County
 
US state and federal animal health officials have begun a second round of testing for avian influenza in a Texas county after a first round of tests came back negative, the Texas Animal Health Commission said Thursday in a press release.
 
The testing is being done in Hopkins County, about 80 miles east of Dallas and will be conducted on 315 non commercial poultry flocks, the TAHC said in the release.
 
TAHC initiated the intensive flock testing in late May after a commercial flock of breeding chickens tested positive in a random blood test on May 26. It said although no clinical signs of avian influenza were found, about 24,000 breeder chickens were depopulated and buried to prevent spread of the disease. Two days later, another flock was found to have the disease and once again 24,000 birds were depopulated and buried.
 
Following the two positive tests, a task force of about 30 TAHC and U.S. Department of Agriculture field staff combed an area extending 10 miles out and tagged 315 flocks as those needing to be tested.
 
Dr. Max Coats, deputy director for Animal Health Progress for TAHC, said in the release that it is standard practice to do a second round of testing on all flocks to be sure that all avian influenza had been eradicated.
 
"Because the AI virus could not be isolated from the two blood-test positive commercial flocks, and clinical signs of illness were not seen, I am regarding this outbreak as being caused by the 'low-pathogenic,' or less deadly form of the H7N3 strain of AI," he said in the release.
 
Coats warned that officials would wait to declare that avian influenza has been eradicated in Texas until the second and final round of test are done and are negative. Despite a complete review, the task force does not yet know how the disease was introduced to the area, the release said.