Category: Agriculture

Bird flu case confirmed in Republic of Ireland

The wild duck, a wigeon, was found alive, but unable to fly in Wexford Town on Wednesday, Irish state broadcaster RTE reports. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre said the H5N8 subtype can cause serious disease in poultry and other birds, but no human infections with this virus have been reported.

Department confirms case of bird flu in Wexford

The Department said the finding is not unexpected given the detection of highly contagious H5N8 in wild birds in Britain in the last two weeks The Department of Agriculture has confirmed a case of bird flu in Ireland after a wild duck was discovered with the disease in Co Wexford on Wednesday. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has confirmed that although the H5N8 subtype can cause serious disease in poultry and other birds, no human infections with this virus have been reported worldwide.

Iowa Egg Numbers Recover Following Bird Flu Outbreak

The head of Iowa’s agriculture department says the state is recovering from the loss of millions of laying hens caused by the 2015 bird flu outbreak. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says Iowa’s egg production in October was roughly 1.30 billion eggs, up more than 70 percent from the same time last year.

Bird Flu Crisis on the Wane

… are therefore not counted as new suspected cases, according to the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). Meanwhile, several wild birds infected with bird flu have been found in North Gyeongsang Province, and the first case of …

Big data analysis fails to stem AI spread

South Korea’s big data system for infectious diseases has failed to help prevent the spread of the country’s latest avian influenza outbreak due to its alarming pace, sources said Tuesday. The country is reeling from its worst ever bird flu outbreak this winter, slaughtering more than 22 million poultry in a desperate bid to contain the disease that has ravaged chicken farms across the country.

Monitoring for bird flu intensified

The Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas is asking farmers and local government units to be always on the lookout for any outbreak of bird flu in the region. Dr. Pacifico Lumauag III, a veterinarian at the department’s Regional Field Office, said bird flu can also be transmitted to humans and could even cause death.

Ogbeh puts poultry farmers on alert over bird flu outbreak

THE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, yesterday, put poultry farmers across the country on alert over the recent outbreak of bird flu in Kano State. Ogbeh said poultry farmers should apply preventive measures to curtail any penetration in their farms by migratory birds from Europe and other parts of the world believed to be carriers of the virus.

Industry losses from bird flu could top $400 million

South Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has said that the nation has culled nearly 20 million birds – or more than 12% – of its poultry to prevent the spread of avian flu, The Korea Times reported citing Yonhap News Agency. A report by the Korea Economic Research Institute predicted that the country’s financial loss could total 492 billion South Korean won after 10% of the poultry population has been slaughtered.

FAO: Horn of Africa Braces for Another Hunger Season [video]

Growing numbers of refugees in East Africa, meanwhile, are expected to place even more burden on already strained food and nutrition security. Currently, close to 12 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are in need of food assistance, as families in the region face limited access to food and income, together with rising debt, low cereal and seed stocks, and low milk and meat production.

South Korea, Japan step up poultry cull to contain bird flu

South Korean health officials disinfect a stream which migratory birds stay in winter temporarily, to prevent spread of bird flu in Pohang South Korea and Japan have ordered fresh culls of poultry stocks to contain outbreaks of avian flu, authorities in the two countries said. The South Korean Agriculture Ministry said on Monday it had ordered the cull of an additional 2.4 million birds, taking the total number to a record 18.4 million since the first outbreak of avian flu was reported at a farm on Nov. 18. It has called the outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N6 strain of bird flu more severe than the H5N8 strain that spread across the country in 2014 and 2015 before being brought under control.

Farmers put on alert as bird flu hits UK poultry

Irish poultry farmers have been put on high alert for avian flu after migratory birds were blamed for an outbreak in the UK. A farm in Louth, Lincolnshire is now under strict quarantine controls as UK agriculture officials attempt to prevent a spread of the H5N8 strain of the bird flu virus.

Zoos shut down as bird flu approaches Seoul

… in the country’s disease control system. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said that health authorities are entitled to close any chicken farm or cote if necessary. On Sunday, a chicken farm in Gimpo, Gyeonggi …