Bird flu outbreak kills thousands of chickens in China
- 4 years ago
SHAOYANG, CHINA — China has confirmed the latest outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in Hunan province."
On Sunday, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs reported the discovery of an H5N1 cluster on a farm in the province's city of Shaoyang[d].
The incident occurred on a farm with about 7,900 chicken, where 4,500 of the birds have died. Local authorities have responded by culling the infected birds.
According to the WHO, H5N1 is an influenza virus that is highly contagious among birds and can cause severe respiratory disease in avians.
The virus does not infect people easily and human to human transmission is rare.
However, the WHO reports that people associated with close contact with dead or live birds could contract the H5N1 and that the infection is fatal to humans 60 percent of the time.
On Sunday, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs reported the discovery of an H5N1 cluster on a farm in the province's city of Shaoyang[d].
The incident occurred on a farm with about 7,900 chicken, where 4,500 of the birds have died. Local authorities have responded by culling the infected birds.
According to the WHO, H5N1 is an influenza virus that is highly contagious among birds and can cause severe respiratory disease in avians.
The virus does not infect people easily and human to human transmission is rare.
However, the WHO reports that people associated with close contact with dead or live birds could contract the H5N1 and that the infection is fatal to humans 60 percent of the time.