Brazil rules out bird flu case on a commercial farm in Rio Grande do Sul state
SAO PAULO, June 2 (Reuters) - Test results for a suspected bird flu outbreak on a commercial farm in the town of Anta Gorda in Rio Grande do Sul state came back negative, according to a document containing laboratory results released by the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry on Monday.
It was the only case currently under investigation on a commercial farm in the country. Brazil's first case of bird flu on a commercial farm had also been detected in Rio Grande do Sul state.
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Deadly flu variant wipes out 95% of animals at one of US's largest farms
A killer bird flu outbreak has hit multiple farms in Arizona - and the variant has wiped out millions of birds from one of the United States's largest egg producers. Chickens at Hickman Farms in Buckeye, Arizona began showing symptoms at the end of May. The initial loss was estimated at 1.1 million birds, but just two weeks after the flock got sick, 6 million have died. That accounted for about 95 percent of Hickman Farms' bird population. CEO Glenn Hickman held a press conference on May 30 to address the situation. To him, the loss was entirely preventable. 'If our pullets had been vaccinated when we started lobbying the federal government in January, our pullets would have been saved by now,' he said. Hickman and Hickman Family farms have been advocating for access to avian flu vaccines since January. According to the company's website, which addresses the situation, the U.S. government makes a vaccine, but only uses it as an export. 'European countries have now been vaccinating their flocks for a couple of years and are gaining the upper hand on controlling this disease. That vaccine is actually made here in the U.S., but we export to other countries while our flocks go unprotected.' The site encourages customers to contact their representatives in a continued push for access to vaccination. 'The quicker we can start vaccinating our nation's poultry flock, the quicker we can get back to normalized operations,' said Hickman. Hickman Farms is just the largest of several that have been affected in Arizona. On June 2, the Arizona Department of Agriculture confirmed that another farm in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area was placed under quarantine. The farm still remains unnamed, but per their press release, poultry began showing symptoms on May and tested positive on May 30. Hickman farms took similar measures to prevent spread, but now is focused on repopulating their farm. According to Hickman, the process of de-populating, cleaning and re-populating will take almost two years. They process will begin in just a few weeks. In the mean time, Hickman Farms has stopped operations. Hundreds of their 850 employees are out of the job - many of whom are contract workers and inmates. Fortunately, some employees will still be needed during the cleaning process. Customers of Hickman farms and other affected farms in Arizona do not need to be worried about contracting bird flu through consumption. The AZDA wrote in a press release on May 20 that eggs from chickens who tested positive have not entered food supply. 'There have been no signs of illness in humans,' they wrote. 'Consumers in Arizona and around the nation can remain confident in the safety and quality of eggs and egg products.' According to CDC numbers, only 70 human cases of bird flu have been reported in the past 14 months, including one death. The AZDA and the CDC said that humans at highest risk are those who have worked directly with affected poultry. Because of the outbreak, Arizona's Family reports that for the first time in 81 Hickman Farms will be unable to satisfy all of their customer demand. The company is looking for alternative ways to meet their needs. Not everyone is upset about the decline in operations. 12 News reports that nearby residents are happy to be rid of the stench that comes with operating a chicken farm. According to Fox 10, locals and environmental activists sued Hickman Farms in 2018 for polluting the area.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
What is Fusarium graminearum, the fungus US authorities say was smuggled in from China?
Federal prosecutors charged two Chinese researchers on Tuesday with smuggling a crop-killing fungus into the U.S. last summer — charges that come amid heightened political tensions between the two countries and as the Trump administration moves to revoke visas from visiting Chinese students. Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, making false statements and visa fraud for allegedly bringing the fungus Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. Jian, 33, was booked in a Detroit federal court. Liu, 34, is thought to be in China. According to the FBI, Liu had small baggies of the fungus stashed in his backpack when he flew to the U.S. last year and, after claiming ignorance about the plant material inside them, said he was planning to use it for research at a University of Michigan lab where Jian worked and where Liu previously worked. What is Fusarium head blight? Fusarium graminearum causes a disease called Fusarium head blight that can wipe out cereal crops such as wheat, barley and maize and rice — it inflicts $1 billion in losses annually on U.S. wheat and barley crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It isn't the only fungus to cause Fusarium head blight, but it's the most common culprit in the U.S. The fungus infects plants early in the growing season, shriveling wheat grains and blanching crop heads a whitish-tan color. It also causes a toxin to accumulate in wheat kernels that can make them unsafe for people and livestock to eat. Nicknamed 'vomitoxin' because it's most known for causing livestock to throw up, it can also cause diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache and fever in animals and people. Wheat and other grain crops are screened for various toxins, including Fusarium graminearum, before they can be used to feed animals and humans. Farmers have to throw out any infected grains, which can cause devastating losses. 'It's one of the many problems that farmers have to deal with that risks their livelihood,' said David Geiser, a Fusarium expert at Penn State. What are the accusations? Although Jian and Liu are accused of smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the country, the fungus is already prevalent in the U.S. — particularly in the east and Upper Midwest — and scientists have been studying it for decades. Researchers often bring foreign plants, animals and even strains of fungi to the U.S. to study them, but they must file certain permits before moving anything across state or national borders. Studying the genes of a foreign fungus strain, for example, can help scientists learn how it tolerates heat, resists pesticides or mutates. 'We look at variations among individuals just like we do humans,' said Nicole Gauthier, a plant pathologist at the University of Kentucky who studies Fusarium. That said, it's unclear why the Chinese researchers might have wanted to bring that strain of Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. and why they didn't fill out the proper paperwork to do so. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Cupcake poisoning twist as 'jealous' mean girl confesses to killing best friend with treats 'from an admirer'
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