Bird Flu in Arkansas: A headline I missed somehow...15,000 hens killed

[Whoa_Nelly]

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Bird_Flu_Strain_at_Tyson_Foods_Leads_to_Killing_of_15000_Hens_18517.html

Bird Flu Strain at Tyson Foods Leads to Killing of 15,000 Hens
By Anna Boyd
13:14, June 4th 2008

Routine blood tests conducted Friday on hens at Tyson Foods Inc., the world’s largest meat processor, led to the discovery of antibodies to the H7N3 strain of the bird flu. Therefore, on Tuesday the company decided to kill 15,000 hens believed to have been exposed to the virus.

“Even though the affected birds do not currently have the virus, the flock is being depopulated today as a precautionary measure and will not enter the human food chain. While the birds' exposure to this strain of avian influenza poses no risk to human health, USDA's policy is to eradicate all H5 and H7 subtypes,” the company, based in Springdale, Arkansas, said in a statement.

<snip>
While the virus discovered at Tyson Foods is harmless to humans, shares of U.S. chicken companies dropped as investors worried foreign buyers may ban U.S. chicken. The U.S. exports about 16 percent of its chicken and a loss of key overseas markets could create a glut of chicken here.

Following the discovery, the U.S. Agriculture Department has already suspended shipments of chicken from Arkansas to Russia, the most important overseas market for U.S. chicken.

[lost-in-nj]

1. Is SPK involved somehow???

he has been quiet here lately!!!!

I'll bet he sneezed in the barn......


:hi:


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:



lost

[Whoa_Nelly]

6. Hey, lost!

:hi:


Am sure SPK was in on it...
HE's so subversive!!!!!!!
(not! :loveya: SPK!)

[lost-in-nj]

9. no

not our


SPK


:hug:



lost

[uppityperson]

2. Where were they exposed to the virus?"Even though the affected birds do not currently have the virus

Arkansas to Russia?
"While the virus discovered at Tyson Foods is harmless to humans, shares of U.S. chicken companies dropped as investors worried foreign buyers may ban U.S. chicken. The U.S. exports about 16 percent of its chicken and a loss of key overseas markets could create a glut of chicken here. "

[ColbertWatcher]

3. This should have 15,000 recs. k+r n/t

[uppityperson]

5. The birds didn't have the virus, and not the kind that hurts people.

Tyson being cautious.

[hippywife]

11. If you think they can be trusted

read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser or what Joel Salatin has to say about the toxic fecal sludge in the cooling vats the birds sit in after processing at the big processors. We don't eat much meat at all but when we do, it's from our local co-op. Eating meat from the grocery or in restaurants is nothing but a crap shoot.

Kicked and rec'd!

[PeaceNikki]

12. "The Future of Food" is another must see!

http://www.netflix.com/WatchNowMovie/The_Future_of_Food/70038794?trkid=228949

Before compiling your next grocery list, you might want to watch this eye-opening documentary, which sheds light on a shadowy relationship between agriculture, big business and government. By examining the effects of biotechnology on the nation's smallest farmers, director Deborah Koons Garcia reveals the unappetizing truth about genetically modified foods: You could unknowingly be serving them for dinner.

[hippywife]

14. After reading

The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, along with the above mentioned book and comments in Salatin's books, we are more determined than ever to become independent of big agribusiness. We have planted our own organic garden and are raising chickens and ducks. I'm convinced that these are skills everyone needs to re-learn, because it's going to be necessary. The health benefits are already beginning to pay-off in spades. :hi:

[uppityperson]

16. I raise my own chickens for food.

Next weekend I get to bless them and kill them. Into the freezer for a bit, then I can eat them. I know where they came from, what they ate, how they lived. I know my meat intimately.

Anyone who eats meat should, in my opinion, raise, kill, clean, eat, at least 1 meal from their own.

[hippywife]

17. We raise them for eggs

but have no plans on eating ours. I've been reading Joel Salatin's Pastured Poultry Profits this week. We have no current plans to raise birds to sell but I wanted to get his take on all aspects of raising poultry. The man totally knows what he's doing.

[uppityperson]

18. Ours have been for eggs so far. First time in over 20 yrs for meat.

I don't eat ones that I've named, but bought some on purpose for meat this spring. I figured if I'm going to buy/eat chicken, I should be more involved, know them personally, give them a good life first. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I'm planning on freezing them for a while, same as I did yrs back when I did this.

[hippywife]

19. I haven't had real chicken

in a long time now. And I love fried chicken. I just can't bring myself to kill and eat ours. I haven't named any of them because they all look identical. But they do provide a source of entertainment, that's for sure. LOL

[tavalon]

10. Why?

It really isn't all that important. And this is coming from someone who knows that the H5N1 is coming sooner or later and it will likely be devastating. But this isn't that and in fact, the regulatory agency actually did its job. I suppose we could recommend it for kudos.

[MercutioATC]

4. H7N3, not H5N1

Completely different strain than the one that's gotten so much press over the last couple of years.

H7N3 can make people sick, but it's 100% treatable.

[Horse with no Name]

7. Hmm...I am not far from there on the Texas side

In the past couple of weeks I have been finding dead birds in my yard.
A few days ago...my cats were gathered at the patio door looking onto the back porch.
There was a bird walking around on my porch. I went out there and it was obvious he was sick. He couldn't fly.
I didn't know what to do.
I put him somewhere safe. The next morning, it was dead on my porch.
There have been cardinals dead and a finch.

[knitter4democracy]

13. That's probably West Nile.

We've been having lots of dead birds from that in the last few years.

[tavalon]

8. This isn't big news because the H7 is far worse for the birds than for any other animals

It isn't the strain made famous by the moniker "Bird Flu".

[HeeBGBz]

15. Great. That's about 100 miles from me

I've not noticed any dead birds up this way. Knock on wood.

[TZ]

20. I wouldn't worry.

This is not the strain to worry about. There have been outbreaks of the avian flu from time to time on the Eastern Shore of MD not far from where I live (not H5N1) and its never made humans ill.
Tyson did the RIGHT thing here.

[SPKrazy]

21. At first I thought maybe just a little overlook at H5N1

but there are many "bird flu" strains and some are and some aren't communicable to people.

No I didn't sneeze on the chicken farm. Geez, those places stink too much.

It is a good example though of how when you cram birds together in a small house, they all catch the flu and were probably sick recently. Just not a lethal strain for them. Of course, the possibility of H5N1 entering the country is also something to think about.

:hi:

:hug: