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Bird flu could cripple U.S. poultry sales abroad

Daily Staff Report

WASHINGTON – If deadly bird flu infects a chicken or turkey flock in the United States, billions of dollars in sales to foreign countries will be threatened.The United States and dozens of other nations have slapped bans on shipments of poultry from 30 countries where various forms of virulent bird flu has been found on commercial farms.What will happen if the tables are turned on the U.S., the biggest poultry-producing nation in the world?”Needless to say, the implications are huge,” Ron DeHaven, head of the Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said in an interview with The Associated Press.The industry is worth about $29 billion annually. Of the 42 billion pounds of poultry produced this year, 6 billion pounds, or 14 percent, will be sold abroad, according to department estimates.More than 200 million birds have died or been slaughtered because of a lethal strain of bird flu spreading through Asia, Europe and Africa. Scientists fear a worldwide epidemic could develop if the virus mutates into a form that can spread easily among people. Since 2003, a total of 110 people have died.Authorities expect the virus to arrive in migratory birds in the United States this year. Already, U.S. officials are reassuring other countries about their ability to contain the virus in commercial flocks and are urging that restrictions be applied to a limited area and not the entire nation.”We’ve had these types of discussions all along with our trading partners,” said John Clifford, the service’s chief veterinarian.That’s what the Agriculture Department did with France, where turkeys in one southeastern region were infected in February, and Germany, which earlier this month reported outbreaks in turkeys, geese and hens in three eastern regions.Canada also faced limited restrictions.


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