An outbreak of H7N3 (bird flu) has killed more than 210,000 birds at poultry farms in Jalisco’s Los Altos region.
The outbreaks were first detected on June 13 at three large commercial chicken farms in the Tepatitlan and Acatic municipalities, according to several reports submitted in the past week to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) by Hugo Fragoso Sanchez, director of Mexico’s animal health agency (SENASICA). The clinical signs in the flocks included gasping, depression, lethargy, drooping wings, prostration, fever and death, noted Fragoso, whose reports have been published on the Internet by the OIE.
At least 60,000 chickens have been culled so far to halt the spread of the virus.
Noted the report: “Epidemiological investigation is ongoing to establish the extent of the problem and the source of infection in order to implement additional measures to rapidly resolve the problem.”
Quarantine measures have been taken, authorities confirm, and SENASICA has dispatched teams of veterinarians to sample birds at other poultry farms near the outbreak area. As of press time, around 120 farms had been inspected.
Health officials have also limited poultry movements and are testing birds at backyard flocks and poultry markets. They are also assessing bio-security practices and overseeing depopulation efforts at the affected farms, according to the report.
The Los Altos region of Jalisco is home to more than 500 commercial poultry farms of varying sizes and this state produces almost half of the eggs consumed in Mexico.
Although SENASICA report mentions only three farms at which the virus has been detected, Spanish-language daily Mural on Wednesday claimed the virus was present at 30 out of 48 establishments in the municipality of Tepatitlan.
Mural also quoted a farmer who said he had sacrificed 400,000 chickens since the beginning of the outbreak.
The newspaper suggested that between five and ten percent of the region’s entire poultry flock is infected by the virus.
The H7N3 strain was first detected in turkeys in Britain in 1963, according to the OIE. One of its last known appearances in poultry on the American continent was in April and May 2004 in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, which led to the culling of 19 million birds, and two related human infections were confirmed. The symptoms included conjunctivitis and mild influenza-like illness. Both patients fully recovered.
Mexico’s last pathogenic avian influenza outbreak was in 1995, according to SENASICA.
On Thursday, Jalisco Health Secretary Jose Antonio Muñoz Serrano stressed that there is no risk that H7N3 can be transmitted to humans, and that eggs and chicken meat are perfectly safe to eat.
Some reports have suggested that one million bird flu vaccine doses will arrive tomorrow from Pakistan.
The H7N3 incubation period is between three and five days.
It is estimated that Jalisco is home to around 80 million factory farm chickens, of which one-sixth are reared in the municipalities of Tepatitlan and Acatic.
Egg prices have risen by about 15 percent in the past month, although this is not a result of H7N3. Some farmers fear the bird flu outbreak could provoke egg shortages and lead to price spikes in coming weeks as inventory becomes depleted.