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The largest producer of fresh eggs in the U.S. said Tuesday it had temporarily halted production at a Texas plant after bird flu was found in chickens, and officials said the virus had also been detected at a poultry facility in Michigan. In Texas, Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. said in a statement that approximately 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, about 3.6% of its total flock, were destroyed after the infection, avian influenza, was found at the facility in Parmer County, Texas. The plant is on the Texas-New Mexico border in the Texas Panhandle about 85 miles southwest...

This healthy, 1-year-old male offspring of a rose-breasted grosbeak and scarlet tanager is the first-ever documented hybrid of its kind. The two species have such divergent nesting preferences that they have been on independent evolutionary trajectories for at least 10 million years—until now. Credit: Stephen Gosser In June of 2020, Stephen Gosser, a self-described "diehard birder," was out in the woods of Western Pennsylvania when he thought he heard the song of the elusive and strikingly beautiful scarlet tanager. The blood-red bird with black wings and tail is a favorite among birders for both its beauty and rarity, as the...

An outbreak of the deadly strain of bird flu is quickly spreading across the U.S. The risk to humans is low, but bird flu could wreak havoc in the nation’s poultry industry ahead of Easter. The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on Wednesday that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was detected in five new states.◾A non-commercial, mixed-species backyard flock (non-poultry) in Berkshire County, Massachusetts;◾A non-commercial, mixed-species backyard flock (non-poultry) in Johnson County, Wyoming;◾A commercial poultry flock in Johnston County, North Carolina;◾A non-commercial, backyard chicken flock (non-poultry) in Franklin County, Ohio;◾And a...

Everything is racist. First, they came for the dogs What to do if your dog seems racist — Quartz Can Dogs Be Racist? | Psychology Today Can Dogs be Racist? The Colonial Legacies of Racialized Dogs in Kenya and Zambia Ask Amy: I think their dog is racist And then the cats Is 'The Cat in the Hat' Racist? - Education Week Now we find out that racism is for the birds The Racist Legacy Many Birds Carry - Washington Post This is more in the way of statue demolitions and galaxy renamings because some birds were named by or...

Bird flu has been discovered in domestic birds in Benton County. The flu was found in a flock of about 150 birds, including domestic waterfowl with access to the outdoors. The virus has not been found in commercial poultry anywhere in Washington State or the United States. The Washington State Department of Agriculture says there is no immediate public health concern as the avian flu does not affect poultry meat or egg products, which remain safe to eat. However, as always, both wild and domestic poultry should be propertly cooked.

Pablo Escobar was loose. He darted across a noisy warehouse, searching for a corner to loom in. He’s “kind of a bully,” said Duke Riley, the Brooklyn artist who trained him, watching Pablo flit around before landing on a ledge near the ceiling. Pablo Escobar is a homing pigeon, and an accessory — or an accomplice — to the latest exhibition by Mr. Riley, whose work often flouts both laws and common sense. “Generally, I do things that don’t really seem that feasible,” Mr. Riley explained, “and then they tend to work out.” But even by his standards, the pigeon...

Scientists have detected for the first time in Nigeria a new strain of the virus that causes avian influenza -- also known as bird flu -- a United Nations agency announced on Tuesday. The find comes in the wake of Nigeria recently reporting two new highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in the states of Katsina and Kano, the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. "The detection of a new avian influenza virus strain in Africa raises serious concerns as it remains unknown how this strain has been introduced to the continent," said Scott Newsman, an international wildlife coordinator...

Bird flu strikes UK wildlife 17:28 10 January 2008 NewScientist.com news service Debora MacKenzie The H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in three dead swans on a nature reserve in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The outbreak, coming barely two months after H5N1 killed domestic turkeys on a farm 500 kilometres away, raises the possibility that the virus could be lurking in the UK’s wild bird population. "While this is obviously unwelcome news, we have always said that Britain is at a constant low level of risk of introduction of avian influenza," said acting chief veterinary officer...

Key To Avian Flu In Humans Discovered ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2008) — MIT researchers have uncovered a critical difference between flu viruses that infect birds and humans, a discovery that could help scientists monitor the evolution of avian flu strains and aid in the development of vaccines against a deadly flu pandemic.This transmission electron micrograph (TEM), taken at a magnification of 150,000x, revealed the ultrastructural details of an avian influenza A (H5N1) virion, a type of bird flu virus which is a subtype of avian influenza A. At this magnification, one may note the stippled appearance of the roughened surface...

Bird Flu Finds Children's Lungs Faster ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2007) — New findings, reported in the journal Respiratory Research, about how the virus binds to the respiratory tract and lung suggest children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza,. The results also mean that previous receptor distribution studies may have to be re-evaluated.Pediatric tissue sample. The researchers found that a particular form of MAA (MAA1) displayed widespread binding throughout the respiratory tract, but was particularly good at binding to children's cells in the lower respiratory tract. (Credit: Image courtesy of BioMed Central)" John Nicholls and colleagues at the University of...

<p>ROANOKE, Virginia — Virginia banned all live poultry sales and shows for the rest of July following the discovery of avian flu antibodies in a flock of 54,000 turkeys on a poultry farm.</p> <p>State veterinarian Richard Wilkes issued an order Monday canceling all sales and exhibitions, Elaine Lidholm, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said Tuesday. The ban remains in effect until July 30.</p>

Indonesia worries over latest bird flu virus samples By Adhityani Arga REUTERS 4:49 a.m. June 6, 2007 JAKARTA – The H5N1 bird flu virus in Indonesia may have undergone a mutation that allows it to jump more easily from poultry to humans, the head of the country's commission on bird flu control said on Wednesday. Indonesia has recorded 79 human deaths from bird flu, the highest in the world, and the country has been struggling to contain the disease because millions of backyard chickens live in close proximity to humans across the archipelago. 'In the past it took exposure of...

Posted on Fri, Mar. 23, Report details bird flu effectsA study by the Trust for America's Health says a pandemic would have serious economic, as well as health, consequences. BY DAVID GOLDSTEIN Eagle Washington bureau WASHINGTON -A major pandemic flu outbreak could kill more than 2 million Americans, leaving 90 million others ill and causing a serious economic recession, a new study says. The Kansas economy is projected to take a $6 billion hit; Missouri's twice that much. "Everywhere will be ground zero," said Merideth Parrish, a public health outreach coordinator for the Kansas City (Mo.) Health Department, which is...

Source: Public Library of Science Date: February 28, 2007 Are Some People Immune To Avian Flu? Science Daily — New results from Richard Webby at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and colleagues published in the international open-access medical journal PLoS Medicine suggest that the answer might be yes. Neuraminidase ribbon diagram. (Image courtesy of PLoS Medicine)The H5N1 avian flu virus is quite different from the seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 flu viruses most humans have been exposed to, which is why many scientists believe that H5N1 could start a new pandemic. (The H and N refer to two virus components, the...

BIRD FLU MOUNTING CONCERN OVER OUTBREAK There is mounting concern over the fourth round of bird flu to hit the country. A nine-year-old girl from Lop Buri province died from bird-flu like symptoms yesterday as the number of suspected human cases surged to 164 in 21 provinces. The girl was Lop Buri's first suspected bird flu case since the current outbreak was confirmed in Phichit on July 24, said Pranom Khamtiang, Lop Buri's chief public health officer. Results of laboratory tests on the girl's tissue to determine if she was infected with the H5N1 avian flu virus were due out...

Bird-Flu Outbreak Suspected in Northern Sumatra Indonesian health officials say seven people from a village in northern Sumatra are being treated for what doctors suspect may be bird flu. The villagers come from the same district where bird flu killed seven members of an extended family in May. Officials say the suspected new cases include two young siblings and a neighbor's baby. They have been admitted to a hospital in the city of Medan. Local authorities are carrying out tests on the seven villagers to determine whether they have the dangerous H5N1 strain of the virus. The previous cluster of...

NewsTarget.com printable article Originally published July 25 2006 WHO failing to report human-to-human transmission of H5N1 bird flu virus (NewsTarget) Statements published by the U.N.'s World Health Organization (WHO) concerning bird flu outbreaks have not been candid, say critics who accuse the organization of being less than truthful to the public for fear of causing panic. Although cluster outbreaks have occurred in Asia, Turkey, and Iraq this year, WHO refused to admit that they could be caused by human-to-human transmission, even though it was aware such transmissions were possible years earlier. Following an Indonesian outbreak that was difficult to conceal,...

Avian influenza, or influenza A (H5N1), has 3 of the 4 properties necessary to cause a serious pandemic: It can infect people, nearly all people are immunologically naive, and it is highly lethal. The Achilles heel of the virus is the lack of sustained human–human transmission. Fortunately, among the 124 cases reported through 30 May 2006, nearly all were acquired by direct contact with poultry. Unfortunately, the capability for efficient human–human transmission requires only a single mutation by a virus that is notoriously genetically unstable, hence the need for a new vaccine each year for seasonal influenza. Influenza A (H5N1)...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is weighing responses to a possible North Korean missile test that include attempting to shoot it down in flight over the Pacific, defense officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Because North Korea has made it a practice not to announce its missile tests in advance, U.S. officials say they cannot be sure of the government's intentions. Under that circumstance, the Pentagon is considering the possibility that it might need to attempt an interception, two defense officials said. The officials agreed to discuss the matter only on condition of anonymity because of its political sensitivity....

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is weighing responses to a possible North Korean missile test that include attempting to shoot it down in flight over the Pacific, defence officials said Tuesday. Because North Korea has made it a practice not to announce its missile tests in advance, U.S. officials say they cannot be sure of the government's intentions. Under that circumstance, the Pentagon is considering the possibility that it might need to attempt an interception, two defence officials told the Associated Press. The officials agreed to discuss the matter only on condition of anonymity because of its political sensitivity....