DUBLIN: Mexico reported 2 cases of high pathogenic H7N3 avian influenza in the central part of the country. Mexican officials reported to the OIE that the virus killed 1,380 of 1,900 Rhode Island Red chickens in the state of Guanajuato. The remaining birds were culled.
A second outbreak was detected among a backyard flock in the neighbouring state of Queretaro, which led to 26 birds being culled. Mexico reported an outbreak of H7N3 last year.
The United States has reported a second case of low path H7 virus. The latest outbreak in Texas was detected during pre-slaughter testing in a broiler breeder flock in Hopkins County, located in the northeastern corner of the state.
The flock had exhibited a slight increase in mortality and a drop in egg production and up to 24,000 have been culled. The farm is about 350 miles south of Missouri’s Jasper County, where low pathogenic H7N1 was reported last week on a commercial turkey farm. The cases are the first in the US this spring.
