“Mild” Bird Flu Lands in Virginia

(Reuters) John Clifford, Chief Veterinarian for the USDA, announced today that lab results have a confirmed the presence of a “low risk” strain of avian flu at a Virginia turkey farm. According to Clifford, tests showed that the birds had been exposed to a North American strain of H5N1 virus which, according to the USDA, is “compatible with low pathogenic avian influenza” but is not “a human health concern.” But just in case, 54,000 turkeys were slaughtered, amounting to a potential fiscal loss of up to $600,000, except that the USDA has promised to pay the farmer fair market value for the dead birds (so it will cost the taxpayers, not the owner of the operation). As a precautionary measure, Virginia’s state veterinarian has banned all live sales and shows, as well as the application of poultry litter on fields, until July 30.

Maybe what they should be banning is factory farms. Last February, the World Watch Institute issued a report called Vital Signs (pdf)–the gist of which was that factory farming practices led to the evolution of the new deadly strain of avian flu, which has been around for a long time. The author of the report, Danielle Nierenberg, also blogs for Worldwatch Institute–check out her Good Eating blog, where she blogs about all things agricultural.