# 2044
On the day when the UK reported its latest outbreak of H7 bird flu, Tyson Foods here in the United States announced plans to eradicate about 15,000 birds in Arkansas that tested positive for H7N3 antibodies during routine surveillance.
The H7N3 virus was responsible for a large outbreak in Pakistan in 1995, and in 2004, British Columbia culled 19 million birds due to the virus.
Two poultry workers developed mild symptoms (conjunctivitis) and tested positive for the H7N3 virus during the 2004 Canadian outbreak.
Other countries that have reported outbreaks include Australia, Chile, and Italy.
The H7 virus, while known to infect humans on rare occasions, is considered less of a public health risk than the H5N1 virus.
This from Reuters.
Tyson finds chickens with mild bird flu strain
Tue Jun 3, 2008 3:26pm EDT
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc, the second largest U.S. chicken producer, said on Tuesday it will eradicate about 15,000 chickens in Arkansas exposed to a mild strain of bird flu, and while there was no risk to human health the news sent its shares lower.
The affected chickens, which will not enter the food supply, had antibodies of a mild or low pathogenic strain of bird flu called H7N3.
It is the deadly high pathogenic H5N1 strain, which has never been found in the United States, that worries scientists because it can spread to humans and has killed 241 people around the world.
The Arkansas chickens were not sick and the antibodies were discovered as part of pre-slaughter surveillance by the company, Tyson said in a statement.
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