June 30, 2012
By Jean Guerrero
MEXICO CITY--Mexico's avian influenza virus in two municipalities of the central-western state of Jalisco has led to the loss of 870,000 chickens as of Friday but is thought to be contained in 10 poultry farms, the Agriculture Ministry's food-safety service said Friday.
The H7N3 virus, which doesn't affect humans, was detected in Mexico for the first time this month in Acatic and Tepatitlan, leading officials to take emergency measures such as quarantining farms, evaluating nearby ones and limiting the movement of live poultry to keep the virus from spreading.
So far, Mexico's food-safety service has done more than 4,209 laboratory tests with samples from more than 100 poultry farms and 15 free-range properties. Of the more than 6.12 million animals checked, roughly 1.7 million have been found sick.
Producers in farms free of the virus can continue sending their eggs anywhere in the country. The affected region is primarily a producer of eggs for domestic consumption, and the virus doesn't pass from infected animals to their eggs.
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