Mild Version of Avian Flu Has Already Hit Conn. [View All]

[Lori Price CLG]

Mild Version Of Avian Flu Has Already Hit Conn. --Birds Were Slaughtered In 2003 After Virus Sickened Them

Mild versions of the avian virus have appeared off and on in the United States for years, including a strain that infected thousands of laying hens at the largest egg farm in Connecticut two years ago.

The 4.7 million birds at Kofkoff Egg Farm in Lebanon and Bozrah faced slaughter in 2003 when the virus sickened thousands of them. It was a less virulent type than the disease now in Asia and Europe and there was no mass die-off.

Instead, the state took the unprecedented step of vaccinating the flock under a $16 million pilot program paid for by the state and federal governments. It cost far less than the $30 million the farm would have paid for destroying the flock. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's standing order for dealing with avian influenza calls for "depopulation" of the infected flocks.

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Lori Price
http://www.legitgov.org/flu_oddities.html