U.S. Screens Poultry for Avian Flu

U.S. chicken processors are starting to screen all of their flocks for bird flu, more than doubling the number of tests conducted in the industry during 2005.

The United States National Chicken Council (Washington DC, USA), a trade group coordinating the voluntary testing program, said firms producing about 90% of the nation's chickens have agreed to screen a sample of chickens from each flock before slaughter. Although most strains of avian flu are harmless to humans, the deadly H5N1 strain is highly contagious. Scientists can determine the health of a flock by conducting an antibody-based test on the blood of a dozen or so of its members.

The screening is designed to reassure consumers, domestic and foreign, that U.S. chickens are free of the H5N1 strain sweeping into Eastern Europe from Asia. The screening is due to the fact that customers recently began requiring suppliers to certify that their chickens are free of bird flu.

By early January 2006, the H5N1 strain had killed more than 146 people in Asia, of whom 76 died. Vietnam alone accounted for 93 cases and 42 deaths. Most of the victims had close contact with sick birds, but health officials worry the virus could acquire the ability to move easily among people, sparking a pandemic.




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United States National Chicken Council