Bird flu strain found in W.Va. doesn’t pose a threat to humans
Agriculture authorities were destroying about 25,000 turkeys at a farm in rural Pendleton County after detecting a strain of avian flu in the flock.
State Agriculture Department spokesman Buddy Davidson said Monday the strain of the disease is not the same that has infected humans in Asia and Africa.
“People should not be worried,” he said. “This should not affect the average person at all.”
Authorities have not released the name of the farm where the flu was discovered. However, they are telling all poultry farms in a five-county area not to remove any “litter”—the bedding and manure of birds on farms—until testing can be done.
The affected counties are Pendleton, Hardy, Grant, Mineral and Hampshire in northeastern West Virginia.
The flu was detected in the turkeys during routine screening before the birds were slaughtered. Routine tests for avian flu have been done since a 2002 outbreak in Virginia.