Via CIDRAP: FLU NEWS SCAN: H7N3 in Mexico, H5N1 in smuggled bird, South American respiratory virus activity. Excerpt:
Eight more outbreaks of H7N3 avian flu have struck Mexican chicken farms in recent weeks, prompting the destruction of more than 800,000 birds and the vaccination of 5 million more, Mexican authorities reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) today.
The outbreaks involved two commercial layer farms, two heavy breeder flocks, three broiler flocks, and a backyard farm in four different states: Jalisco, Puebla, Guanajuato, and Aguascalientes. The number of susceptible birds totaled 1,049,220, of which 815,034 were destroyed to stop the outbreaks.
The report says only three actual cases were reported but notes that information was missing. In Guanajuato, the outbreaks have prompted the vaccination of 5,512,080 chickens on breeder and layer farms. The earliest outbreaks started on Apr 4 and the latest on May 23.
Mexico's last report to the OIE, on May 8, listed five outbreaks, which prompted the culling of 850,000 birds.
