Three Asian countries have imposed bans on chicken following the confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Tennessee over the weekend. More than 73,000 birds will be culled on the chicken breeding farm contracted to Tyson Foods stemming from the first report of HPAI in the United States this year.

Government officials in Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan all announced bans on the import of poultry from Tennessee as well as from Wisconsin, where low pathogenic H5N8 bird flu was also confirmed. The H7 strain found in Tennessee prompted the state to place 30 other farms in the area under quarantine for testing, according to meat industry publication Meatingplace.

In 2015, HPAI killed 48 million birds in the United States. HPAI is plaguing parts of global poultry production as several countries in Europe and Asia are dealing with multiple outbreaks. HPAI was last found in the U.S. in an Indiana commercial turkey flock in January 2016.

Source;  NAFB News

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