Avian influenza news from the USDA: This week, as a result of increased surveillance in the Pacific flyway, USDA has confirmed the presence of HPAI in a wild duck in Butte County, California. The samples in California were collected from a hunter-harvested gadwall in Butte County, California, as part of increased wild bird surveillance. Testing by the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, a National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) laboratory, was positive on H5 PCR, and the sequencing results were consistent with Eurasian H5N8. The National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) received the samples on December 31 and confirmed the presence of HPAI H5N8. This is the same HPAI H5N8 strain that was found in Washington gryfalcons and the Oregon backyard poultry flock. This is not an unexpected finding, given wild waterfowl migratory patterns in the Pacific flyway.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 00:14:39 +0000