Avian influenza has been found in wild birds on the US border. USDA has not found it in in US poultry, but the strains H5N2 and H5N8 have been found in Canadian and European flocks. While these strains are highly pathogenic to birds, they are not considered a risk to people.
Migratory birds such as ducks are a risk factor for spreading the virus to the US poultry population. Once infected, the flock is often culled to eliminate further risk of spreading the virus.
Just this past year, the pork industry suffered the fate of the PED virus, or Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. PEDV causes severe diarrhea in pigs and has a high lethality in piglets, but poses no risk to other animals or humans. PED and Influenza are different types of viruses. PED is from the Coronaviridae family of enveloped, positive-stranded RNA viruses. Influenza is an Orthomyxovirus.
CIDRAP
H5N2, H5N8 avian flu viruses surface in US
Robert Roos | News Editor | CIDRAP News
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/12/h5n2-h5n8-avian-flu-viruses-surface-us
Dec 16, 2014
US authorities today reported finding wild birds in Washington state infected with two different highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses, H5N2 and H5N8, raising questions about possible connections with recent H5N2 outbreaks across the border in Canada and with an Asian H5N8 strain that is now hitting European poultry farms.
In reports to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said H5N2 was found in a wild pintail duck, while H5N8 was found in a captive wild gyrfalcon that was fed on hunter-killed birds. Both birds were in Whatcom County, Washington, which borders the Abbotsford area of British Columbia, the site of recent H5N2 outbreaks in poultry.
Also today, Italy became the fourth European country in the past few weeks to report an H5N8 outbreak in poultry, with an outbreak on a turkey farm, and Germany reported a second poultry H5N8 outbreak at a site distant from its first H5N8 event.
Increased surveillance prompted finds
Both US viruses were detected because of increased surveillance prompted by the Canadian H5N2 outbreaks. The USDA said neither virus has been found in any poultry in the United States.
In a "stakeholder announcement," the USDA said, "There is no immediate public health concern with either of these avian influenza viruses. Both H5N2 and H5N8 viruses have been found in other parts of the world and have not caused any human infection to date."
In its OIE reports, the agency said, "Preliminary analysis suggests this H5N2 is similar to the HPAI identified in the current Canadian outbreak." The report was filed by John Clifford, DVM, deputy director of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The agency filed separate reports on the two detections, but with identical epidemiologic comments.
The report does not comment on whether the H5N8 virus is related to the H5N8 currently circulating in Europe. It says the hemagglutinin component (H5) of the H5N2 virus is related to a virus isolated from a bean goose in Korea this year, while the neuraminidase (N2) component of the H5N2 isolate is similar to that from a virus found in a US green-winged teal in 2007.
The report goes on to say, "Preliminary data suggests that these virus strains (H5N2 and H5N8) may be related with the H5N8 strain potentially representing the progenitor; however further analysis is needed."
The USDA and Washington authorities are working on additional surveillance and testing of birds in northwestern Washington, the agency said. It called on all bird owners, both commercial and noncommercial, to keep their birds separated from wild birds and to report illnesses and unusual deaths to state veterinary authorities or the USDA.
Turkey outbreak in Italy
Italian veterinary authorities, in reporting their H5N8 outbreak to the OIE, said the virus killed 1,219 of 31,985 turkeys on a farm near Venice in northeastern Italy's Veneto province.
The report said culling of the surviving turkeys to control the outbreak would begin today and that other control measures would be applied in a restriction zone around the farm. Officials also said they are sequencing the virus to determine its genotype.
Italy follows Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in reporting recent outbreaks of H5N8 in poultry. Germany was the first, with a report of the virus on a turkey farm on Nov 4, and outbreaks were reported on chicken and duck farms in the Netherlands and the UK shortly afterward. At least four farms in the Netherlands have been struck by the virus.
The latest outbreak in Germany involves a turkey farm in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony, according to a Reuters report today. The story gave no information on the number of turkeys affected or on response efforts.
Germany's initial outbreak was on a turkey farm in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a northeastern state. The virus also was later found in a wild bird.
The European outbreaks follow a series of widespread outbreaks in South Korea early this year. Authorities suspect that wild birds carried H5N8 from East Asia to Europe. No human H5N8 infections have been reported as yet.
In late November the OIE and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization warned that H5N8 represented a serious threat to the poultry industry, especially in less-wealthy European countries.
H5 outbreak in Japan
In other developments, Japan's agriculture ministry reported today that a farm in the country's southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki was hit by a highly pathogenic H5 avian flu virus, according to a separate Reuters story. The story did not specify the virus's full subtype.
Three chickens tested positive for the virus, prompting destruction of all 4,000 chickens on the farm, an official told Reuters. The story said Miyazaki is Japan's top producer of broiler chickens.
Meatingplace
Avian flu detected in wild U.S. birds, Alberta prepares
http://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/News/Details/55108
By Chris Scott on 12/17/2014
The fallout from the outbreak of H5N2 avian influenza in western Canada has crossed the U.S. border, even as another Canadian province tries to mitigate the risks of an outbreak at local poultry farms.
USDA officials have confirmed that the highly pathogenic H5N2 and H5N8 avian flu strains have been confirmed in Northern Pintail ducks (left) and captive Gyrfalcons, respectively, in Whatcom County in Washington State. The county borders the area in British Columbia, Canada, where the outbreak was discovered at turkey and chicken farms earlier this month. USDA, the U.S. Dept. of the Interior and the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services are working with Washington State officials on additional surveillance and testing of both wild and commercial birds in the area, the agency said in a release.
Government officials stress that neither strain of the viruses have been detected in commercial poultry in the United States and no human cases of infection have been reported in the United States or Canada. USDA added there is no immediate public health concern with either avian flu viruses.
Meanwhile, poultry farmers in Alberta, Canada, are working with Alberta Chicken Producers, which has raised its level of alert in the wake of the situation in British Columbia, where more than 180,000 birds have been culled so far. The efforts include improving communication channels between Alberta, poultry farmers, processors, hatcheries and veterinarians in an area where producers already maintain a high level of bio-security, according to the organization that represents 240 chicken producers in the province.
North America is not the only area suddenly dealing with avian influenza issues: German authorities ordered the slaughter of 130,000 turkeys and chickens in the wake of the discovery of H5N8 that was found in Lower Saxony; and Japan has confirmed that authorities found a highly pathogenic H5 strain of bird flu that led to the culling of about 4,000 birds in recent weeks.
Fox Business
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/10/11/pork-industry-rebounding-from-piglet-virus-meaning-consumers-could-see-lower/
Pork industry rebounding from piglet virus, meaning consumers could see lower prices at storePublished October 11, 2014
Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa – A virus that killed millions of baby pigs in the last year and led to higher pork prices has waned thanks to warmer weather and farmers' efforts to sterilize their operations. And as pigs' numbers increase, sticker shock on things like bacon should ease.
Already, hog supplies are on the rise, with 5.46 million baby pigs born between June and August in Iowa, the nation's leading producer — the highest quarterly total in 20 years and a record 10.7 surviving pigs per litter, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
It's a significant turnaround from a year ago when the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus was wiping out entire litters. Since the virus first showed up, the federal government rushed to give conditional approval for a vaccine and those in the industry began taking precautions, such as disinfecting trucks, equipment and clothing.
"We've gotten better at managing biosecurity and establishing health protocols," said Greg Lear, a producer near Spencer, Iowa, who lost more than 800 baby pigs last December. "I think Mother Nature helped us with sunshine. It doesn't like sunshine and warmer temperatures."
It's clear the industry is managing the virus, but it's far from eradicated. Two new cases were confirmed by South Dakota veterinary officials in the past week, bringing the state's total to 38 farms. And there's reason to be cautiously optimistic, Lear said, as the virus thrives in colder, wetter environments like those found in fall and winter.
"I'm very fearful in my mind what's coming with winter again," Lear said.
As baby pigs died across the country, pork supplies dropped and prices rose, setting a monthly average retail record of $4.20 per pound the week of Aug. 14 — an 11 percent increase over the $3.76 per pound a year earlier, the USDA said.
Consumers didn't seem to be scared by the high prices, either, as demand dropped only about 3 percent in the most recent quarter compared with a year ago, the USDA said.
"We've been talking for some time about consumers starting to push back and we have seen that in certain degrees but not maybe what we had expected," said Lee Schulz, a livestock economist and assistant professor at Iowa State University. "From a pure price standpoint, it's a bit surprising that we've seen such robust demand."
This year's anticipated record-breaking corn and soybean harvests are playing a role in increased producer profits as well, because of a drop in the cost of feed.
U.S. producers will end 2014 with an average profit of about $60 per animal, by far the best year ever, Purdue University ag economic professor Chris Hurt said. Over the past 25 years, average profits have been $10.50 per animal, Hurt said.
Producers are hoping to cash in by raising more hogs. Missouri reported 40,000 more sows, Iowa added 30,000, and Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana and Oklahoma each added thousands, the USDA said in a Sept. 29 report.
It takes about six months to raise a pig to market weight, so the increased supply could mean a slight drop in consumer prices this winter and a more noticeable decline in the spring, Hurt said, noting his models for profit by the end of 2015 are about $30 per animal.
Many in the industry are optimistic that the worst of the PED virus is behind them, but there is still concern among producers.
Dale Norton — a livestock farmer in Bronson, Michigan, and president of the National Pork Board — lost 1,500 piglets over 2½ weeks in March, but said his barns are now free of the virus.
There may be additional outbreaks, Norton said, but he doubts they'll be as severe, since hog farmers have learned more about the virus and how it spreads and have taken precautions.
"We know that going into the fall the risk with people hauling manure and the risk with it getting colder there's a good potential we'll have more," he said.
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