USA, Rhode Island: Four of the eleven birds were found to be infected with the H7N3 strain of the avian influenza virus

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.wpri.com/Global/story.asp...0&nav=menu20_3

Bird flu detected in Rhode Island
Updated: Aug 21, 2008 12:19 PM

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - A strain of bird flu has been detected in four swans found in the Seekonk River.

The cases were discovered as part of routine surveillance by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

DEM says the strain of avian flu detected in Rhode Island is not the same strain that has infected people in Asia and Europe since 2003 -- so it does not pose a significant health risk to humans.

However, the agency says the virus can be transmitted to wild birds and domestic poultry flocks. It is urging all poultry owners to employ standard biosecurity and sanitation practices. In particular, they should prevent flocks from having any contact with wild birds.

All poultry owners should have their flocks tested. To schedule an appointment call the DEM's Division of Agriculture/Animal Health Unit at 401-222-2781. There is no charge for the testing.

[Giuseppe]

Re: Bird flu detected in Rhode Island

News Release - RI Department of Environmental Management - 235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908 - (401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462

For Release: August 21, 2008 - Contact: Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402

AVIAN INFLUENZA DETECTED IN SMALL NUMBER OF WILD MUTE SWANS IN RHODE ISLAND

Finding Poses No Significant Threat to Human Health, but Poultry Owners are Advised to Take Preventative Steps to Protect their Flocks

PROVIDENCE -

A strain of avian influenza (bird flu) has been detected in a small number of mute swans collected from the Seekonk River during routine surveillance performed by the Department of Environmental Management's Division of Fish & Wildlife.

The swans were caught near the Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, and subsequently tested by the USDA.

Four of the eleven birds were found to be infected with the H7N3 strain of the avian influenza virus.

This is NOT the same strain that has infected people in Asia and Europe since 2003, and there is no known significant health risk to people as a result of exposure to this virus, nor any associated food safety concerns.

Chicken and other poultry products are safe to eat.

This virus, while not a significant health risk to people, can be transmitted to other birds, and thereby represents a significant risk to other wild birds and domestic poultry flocks.

In response, DEM's Division of Agriculture will be performing increased surveillance of domestic poultry flocks within a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) radius of the location where the infected swans were found.

The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture will do the same thing on their side of the border.

DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife will also increase surveillance of wild waterfowl (swans, ducks, geese, etc.).

As a precaution, to protect their flocks, all poultry owners should employ standard biosecurity and sanitation practices. In particular, poultry owners should prevent their flocks from having any contact with wild birds.

Additional information on avian influenza and the steps poultry owners should take to protect their flocks can be found at http://www.dem.ri.gov/topics/avianflu.htm. (easily accessed by clicking on "Avian Flu" under "Timely Topics" on DEM's homepage).

All poultry owners should have their flocks tested; to schedule an appointment, they should contact DEM's Division of Agriculture/Animal Health Unit at 222-2781.

Testing is done by free of charge to the producer.

Any poultry owner finding a higher than normal number of bird deaths in their flock should immediately report the occurrence to DEM's Animal Health Unit at the above number.

There are two primary ways in which the general public can help control the spread of the disease among bird populations.

First: do not feed waterfowl. It is illegal and harmful. Large numbers of waterfowl congregate when people feed them resulting in overcrowding and the potential spread of diseases among the flock.

Second, anyone who encounters any large numbers of dead or sick birds should report their finding to DEM's Division of Fish & Wildlife, at 789-7481 (Monday-Friday, 8:30-4:00).

No one should be concerned by a single dead bird.

Birds die everyday, from many different causes. DEM is only interested in learning about unusual occurrences, involving many dead or sick birds. More information on these topics can be found at http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatr...f/dontfeed.pdf and
http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatr...df/birdflu.pdf.

For General Information 222-6800 ? After Hours Emergencies 222-3070 ?
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http://www.dem.ri.gov/news/2008/pr/0821082.htm

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[oldman]

Re: Bird flu detected in Rhode Island

Is there a timeline available?

[HenryN]

Re: Bird flu detected in Rhode Island

Is there a timeline available?

If the H7 and N3 have already been determined, these birds were likely collected some time ago.

[HenryN]

Re: USA, Rhode Island: Four of the eleven birds were found to be infected with the H7N3 strain of the avian influenza virus

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[HenryN]

Re: USA, Rhode Island: Four of the eleven birds were found to be infected with the H7N3 strain of the avian influenza virus

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/08210801/H7N3_RI.html

[Mamabird]

Re: USA, Rhode Island: Four of the eleven birds were found to be infected with the H7N3 strain of the avian influenza virus

The US will unlikely report this event to OIE since the detection was in wild birds. Past US practice has been to only report H5 and H7 infections in domestic poultry.

[Giuseppe]

Re: USA, Rhode Island: Four of the eleven birds were found to be infected with the H7N3 strain of the avian influenza virus

Test finds bird flu strain not harmful to humans

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, August 23, 2008

By Mike McKinney - Projo.com staff writer

PROVIDENCE ?

A bird flu virus strain has been found in four mute swans collected from the Seekonk River ? near the Swan Point Cemetery ? as part of routine surveillance by the state Department of Environmental Management.

While the DEM says the strain is not harmful to humans, the agency is suggesting that all poultry owners have their flocks tested.

Tests by the U.S. Department of Agriculture detected that the swans, part of a sample of 11 birds, were infected with the H7N3 strain of avian influenza virus.

But the DEM emphasized in a news release yesterday that it is not the same strain that has infected people in Asia and Europe since 2003, and there is no known significant health risk to people who are exposed to this strain of the virus.

However, the virus can be transmitted to other birds and poses a significant risk to other wild birds and domestic poultry flocks.

So DEM?s Division of Agriculture will increase surveillance of domestic poultry flocks within a 6.2 mile radius of where the infected swans were found.

The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture will do the same in the Bay State.

Rhode Island DEM?s Division of Fish and Wildlife will also increase surveillance of wild waterfowl, including swans, ducks, and geese.

As a precaution, the DEM said, all poultry owners, to protect their flocks, should enact standard biosecurity and sanitation practices. Poultry owners should prevent their flocks from contact with wild birds.

The public is also asked to avoid feeding waterfowl and to report sightings of dead or sick birds to the DEM?s Division of Fish and Wildlife at (401) 789-7481.

Additional information on avian influenza and steps poultry owners should take to protect their flocks can be found at www.dem.ri.gov/topics/avianflu.htm.
mmckinne@projo.com
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http://www.projo.com/news/content/bird_flu_08-23-08_32BAE5N_v14.3b185ff.html

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[AlaskaDenise]

Re: USA, Rhode Island: Four of the eleven birds were found to be infected with the H7N3 strain of the avian influenza virus

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/08210801/H7N3_RI.html

Commentary

H7N3 in Rhode Island
Recombinomics Commentary 20:44
August 21, 2008

A strain of avian influenza (bird flu) has been detected in a small number of mute swans collected from the Seekonk River during routine surveillance performed by the Department of Environmental Management's Division of Fish & Wildlife.

The swans were caught near the Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, and subsequently tested by the USDA.

Four of the eleven birds were found to be infected with the H7N3 strain of the avian influenza virus.

The above comments describe the confirmation of H7N3 in Rhode Island. Although H7 outbreaks are reportable, an OIE report has not yet appeared, and the media reports do not indicate if the H7N1 is high or low path.

Reports of H7 outbreaks in the US have become more common. The most recent was in wild birds in Arkansas. Initially only antibodies were detected, but low path H7N3 was subsequently isolated.

In addition, H7N3 sequences from Delaware and Maryland have been deposited at Genbank, but have not yet been released (see list of 2006 and 2007 isolates here). H7N3 has also been reported in Canada last year.

H7 outbreaks are frequently linked to human infections, although such cases are usually mild. A more aggressive case was identified in New York in 2002, but that infection involved H7N2. Most of the H7N3 cases have been linked to eye infections.

More information on the pathogenicity of these isolates would be useful.

.

[Giuseppe]

Re: USA, Rhode Island: Four of the eleven birds were found to be infected with the H7N3 strain of the avian influenza virus

Rhode Island reports H7N3 in swans

Lisa Schnirring Staff Writer

Aug 25, 2008 (CIDRAP News) ?

Wildlife officials in Rhode Island recently announced that during routine surveillance they detected the low-pathogenic form of H7N3 avian influenza in wild mute swans.

The virus was detected in 4 of 11 swans collected from the Seekonk River, near the Swan Point Cemetery, about 4 miles northeast of Providence, according to an Aug 21 press release from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM).

Testing was performed by the US Department of Agriculture. Officials did not say if any of the birds showed signs of clinical disease.

The finding prompted the DEM to increase surveillance of domestic poultry within 10 km (6.2 miles) of the site where the infected birds were found.

The radius includes a portion of Massachusetts, where authorities from the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture will handle surveillance at poultry farms for the H7N3 virus.

Animal health officials advised that Rhode Island's poultry farmers observe standard biosecurity measures, especially preventing flocks from having contact with wild birds.

The DEM urged farmers to have their flocks tested, free of charge, and to report unusual numbers of bird deaths.

In June, Tyson Foods, based in Springdale, Ark., announced that breeder hens at one of its farms in northwestern Arkansas had antibodies to the H7N3 avian influenza virus, according to previous reports.

The company said the birds' exposure to the virus was found during preslaughter surveillance. The birds didn't show clinical signs of disease at the time of testing, but 3 weeks earlier farmers had noticed a mild increase in deaths and a drop in egg production that lasted 1 week, according to a Jun 10 report from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

The flock was culled, and a few days later the H7N3 virus from one of the farm's poultry samples was isolated at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, located in Ames, Iowa, according to the OIE report. No other outbreaks were detected in the area, and authorities didn't determine the source of the infection.

Last September a highly pathogenic strain of H7N3 subtype infected poultry at a commercial poultry farm in Saskatchewan, and in 2004 both the low- and highly pathogenic strains of the H7N3 virus were responsible for outbreaks in British Columbia.

The subtype doesn't often cause human illnesses, but during the 2004 outbreaks in British Columbia, two mild cases of H7 influenza were reported in poultry workers.

The last reported H7N3 outbreaks in the United States occurred in 2004 at three Texas farms.

See also:

Aug 21 Rhode Island DEM press release

http://www.dem.ri.gov/news/2008/pr/0821082.htm

Jun 10 OIE report

http://www.oie.int/wahid-prod/public.php?page=event_summary&reportid=7106

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http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/aug2508avian.html

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