The county at the epicenter of Minnesota's avian influenza crisis, Kandiyohi, has been hit by another probable outbreak, its 40th, state officials reported today.
Reasons for not using a vaccine include low effectiveness and likely loss of markets for US poultry.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday released its final Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD), a rule that aims to put all uses of medically important antibiotics in food animals under veterinary supervision by the end of next year.
Probable avian flu has struck poultry farms in Minnesota and Iowa and a small flock in Nebraska.
The states report 3 new outbreaks, and the CDC posts an advisory for health professionals.
Flocks from 21,000 to 50,000 birds in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota were hit, and tests for H5N2 are pending.
Sierra Leone is reporting a spate of new Ebola cases in a new hot spot in the Kaffu Bullom part of Port Loko district, located in the western part of the country, according to official and media reports.
Avian flu outbreaks hit six more poultry flocks in Iowa and Minnesota, according to announcements today from the two states.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) reported probable H5 outbreaks at a 400,000-bird pullet farm in Wright County, located in the central part of the state. It also said the virus struck a turkey farm that kept 42,000 birds in Sac County, in west-central Iowa.
State officials in Minnesota and Iowa today announced one new avian influenza outbreak apiece, both of them on turkey farms.
Minnesota's Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced that one more turkey flock is "presumptive positive" for avian flu. The outbreak occurred in Renville County, located in the south-central part of the state. The DPS said details on the outbreak's flock size will be released soon.
Four new outbreaks in chickens and turkeys join the 181 already counted by the USDA since last December.
