A third commercial poultry breeding operation in Tennessee has tested positive for avian flu.
State agricultural officials on Thursday said the latest chicken breeding facility to be infected is in Lincoln County, south of Nashville close to the Alabama state line, close to a farm that was diagnosed with bird flu less than two weeks ago. Officials say the chickens at both facilities have the same strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza. Another chicken breeding facility that was diagnosed on March 8 with infected birds is in neighboring Giles County.
"It's very concerning, of course," said Dale Barnett, executive director of the Tennessee Poultry Association. "From an industry-wide standpoint, we'll get through this."
State officials said the chickens at all three facilities have been killed off. The most recent outbreak affected a flock of hens, Barnett said, that laid eggs destined to grow into broiler chickens.
Countries have suspended some imports of U.S. chicken products in light of the U.S. outbreak of bird flu. Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, and Taiwan have established, or are implementing, import bans based on the recent outbreaks of avian influenza in the country, according to Watt PoultryUSA, a trade magazine.
"South Korea, they just released the trade restriction from two years ago," Barnett said. "Some of these, it takes a long time to restore."
Officials say the strains of bird flu that have sickened the Tennessee chickens do not pose a threat to the food supply and little to no risk to human health.