News & Updates

The government of Northern Ireland is urging all poultry farmers and people with backyard flocks to register with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) as a biosecurity measure to protect flocks from highly pathogenic avian influenza. ... read more

The Jamaican government has affirmed its commitment to poultry industry stakeholders in the country that it is doing what it can to protect birds there from potential avian influenza outbreaks. ... read more

... read more

The 2015 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the United States and resulting egg price increases have caused the food industry to closely examine a current policy that forces broiler chicken producers to destroy perfectly acceptable and safe shell eggs. The National Chicken Council, Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Association for Dressings and Sauces this week petitioned FDA to reverse or modify this policy. ... read more

The USDA is forecasting the number of turkeys raised in the United States to be 228 million, down 4 percent from the 237.5 million raised in 2014. ... read more

Turkish poultry meat exports have dropped by 50 percent so far in 2015. The drop in trade was due to speculation about possible avian influenza cases and escalating terror attacks, poultry industry representatives in Turkey said. ... read more

Cal-Maine Foods started its 2016 fiscal year on strong ground, achieving a net income in the first quarter more than five-times larger than what it was during the first quarter of fiscal year 2015. ... read more

An avian influenza insurance scheme would be broadly welcome by U.K. poultry farmers, a survey conducted by the country’s National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has found. ... read more

As the United States poultry industry prepares for the possible return of avian influenza in the coming months, and other nations experience new cases of the virus, avian influenza remains a top concern among those in the global poultry industry. ... read more

USDA recently authorized the emergency use of ventilation shutdown (VSD) to depopulate poultry flocks affected by avian influenza. However, special criteria must be met before ventilation shutdown may be used. ... read more

India’s new General Guidelines for Biosecurity at Central Poultry Development Organizations is aimed at research institutes but the principles can be applied to state farms, according to the Department for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHD) as well as private enterprises. ... read more

An avian influenza strain that has been circulating in the U.S. has the potential to infect pigs, and the standard hemagglutination test used to detect flu in livestock and a vital tool in influenza surveillance, is ineffective for the H3N8 virus in the porcine host. ... read more

Check out this infographic for highlights from the APHIS report on how the U.S. will prepare for and respond to future avian influenza outbreaks. ... read more

After an absence of 3 months, avian influenza has returned to South Korea in three apparently unrelated outbreaks. New outbreaks of highly pathogenic forms of the disease have also been reported in recent weeks in Vietnam, Taiwan, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire. ... read more

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a report on planning and preparations for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in advance of a potential recurrence of the disease when birds migrate south this fall. ... read more