Infographic: Steps in avian flu testing process

Tennessee became the first state to have a confirmed case of avian influenza in a commercial poultry flock, with Wisconsin, Alabama and Kentucky reporting subsequent cases.

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Tennessee became the first state to have a confirmed case of avian influenza in a commercial poultry flock, with Wisconsin, Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia reporting subsequent cases.

Animal health professionals have been actively testing birds in zones around the affected farms to prevent the further spread of the virus.

In a recent video posted on the Tennessee Department of Agriculture's YouTube channel, Dr. Bruce McLaughlin, Director of the Kord Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, explained the procedures involved in the avian influenza testing process. Those steps are listed in the infographic, shown below.

McLaughlin adds that while at the lab, technicians must take special biohazard precautions to prevent from becoming infected with the virus themselves.

“We have the traffic through the laboratory very strictly regulated. We have people wearing disposable booties and lab gowns, and doing changes of clothing and even showering out from the lab after being in contact with any infected bird, so the possibility of a human becoming infected here are very, very low,” he said.

Tennessee’s first case of avian influenza was confirmed in a Lincoln County broiler breeding facility. Testing showed that it was a highly pathogenic H7N9 strain. Four days later, a low pathogenic H7N9 avian influenza strain was detected in another commercial broiler breeder flock in Giles County. The third case was also in Lincoln County, and was also of the highly pathogenic H7N9 variant.

Track 2017 avian flu outbreaks in North American poultry

To help poultry growers and producers monitor these outbreaks of avian influenza, WATTAgNet has again created an interactive map tracking cases confirmed by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in North America in 2017: https://batchgeo.com/map/2017-avian-influenza-outbreaks.

Steps In Avian Flu Testing Process Infographic 1

 

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