Bird Flu Strain Found in Arkansas

A highly contagious strain of bird flu has infected a commercial turkey flock in Arkansas, one of the biggest poultry-producing states, federal officials confirmed Wednesday.

Samples from the flock of 40,020 turkeys have been "confirmed as H5N2 highly pathogenic avian influenza," said Ed Curlett, a spokesman for the U.S. Agriculture Department.

State officials quarantined the premises, and birds on the property will be depopulated to prevent meat from infected animals entering the food supply chain, and to prevent further spread of the virus, the USDA said in a statement. The turkey producer wasn't identified by the USDA.

The discovery in Arkansas comes amid broader concerns about the prospect of the H5N2 virus strain entering the top U.S. states for commercial production of poultry and egg products, after cases of the disease were identified in neighboring Missouri this week. Georgia and Alabama process the largest number of broiler chickens in the U.S., and Minnesota, Arkansas, and Virginia produce the most turkey meat.

Arkansas is the third-largest producer of chickens and second-largest turkey processor, and is home to Tyson Foods Inc., the nation's biggest meatpacker by sales. Tyson Foods and Cargill Inc., which owns a turkey business in the state, said that company flocks had not been affected by the viruses.

Since December, the USDA has confirmed the highly pathogenic strain in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Minnesota and Missouri, infecting commercial poultry processors including Foster Farms.

In January, China banned imports of all U.S. poultry and eggs following the detection of the virus in noncommercial flocks including wild and so-called backyard birds, joining over 20 countries that had already imposed restrictions on imports of poultry products from certain U.S. counties, states or the entire country.

Write to Kelsey Gee at [e-mail]

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