|
WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters): US farmers should step up biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of a deadly strain of bird flu should the disease make its way to the United States from Southeast Asia, Texas A&M University agricultural experts urged yesterday.
The United States is the world's largest producer and exporter of poultry meat, and the second-largest egg producer. US poultry production is valued at about $23 billion annually, according to US government data.
John Carey, a Texas A&M expert on poultry production, said US farmers can prevent the spread of the virus by limiting visitors to their property and restricting any contact with live waterfowl.
Poultry farmers "should just take normal bio-security steps ... and heighten those kinds of activities right now," Carey told reporters during a teleconference briefing on bird flu.
Texas A&M experts said they are worried that the virus could enter the nation in Alaska from migrating birds, most of which would show few, if any signs, of infection.
"It is an immediate threat to the agriculture industry due to the virus' ability to infect domestic poultry and cause up to a hundred per cent mortality" in the inventory," said John El- Attrache, a veterinary pathologist.
"But will it be the next pandemic strain (in humans)? Nobody knows," he said.
There is uncertainty as to whether the H5N1 avian influenza virus, which has killed more than 60 people and infected others in Southeast Asia since 2003, will spread to the United States.
Bird flu has already hurt poultry production in Southeast Asia. Tens of millions of birds have been killed or destroyed in the last two years.
H5N1 has been detected in Turkey and Romania in recent days, and tests are underway for a suspected case in Greece. If confirmed, it would mark the first case of a bird with the virus in the European Union.
While the United States has not reported the deadly virus, President George W. Bush has urged the mass production of vaccines to treat the disease and proposed even using the military to contain any outbreak of avian influenza.
"As of right now it is a relatively minor threat to most humans in the world," said John Quarles, a Texas A&M microbiologist. "We're trying to prepare, but it isn't a done deal."
|