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The government of Mexico has voluntarily suspended shipments of meat and processed poultry to the United States after U.S. officials raised concerns about the quality of Mexican food processing and inspections, an Agriculture Department official said Thursday. The department's Food Safety and Inspection Service identified systemic problems with sanitation controls and recordkeeping during an annual audit that took place in Mexico between June 24 and July 31. The voluntary suspension began Aug. 29, said Amanda Eamich, a spokeswoman for the service. About 2 percent of beef and poultry in the U.S. comes from Mexican producers. "Safety concerns in multiple establishments...

Food prices to post biggest rise since 1990: USDA By Christopher Doering Wed Aug 20, 5:43 PM ET U.S. consumers should brace for the biggest increase in food prices in nearly 20 years in 2008 and even more pain next year due to surging meat and produce prices, the Agriculture Department said on Wednesday. Food prices are forecast to rise by 5 percent to 6 percent this year, making it the largest annual increase since 1990. Just last month, USDA forecast food prices would climb between 4.5 and 5.5 percent in 2008. "It's a little bit of a surprise how...

A small town struggles after immigration raid Email this Story Aug 16, 1:05 PM (ET) By MONICA RHOR Google sponsored links Get the facts on Peta - Find out the details of Peta's Euthanasia record. PetaKillsAnimals.com Information on PETA - Find out more about the founder's statements and philosophy. www.ActivistCash.com POSTVILLE, Iowa (AP) - A vague unease whispered through this tiny town in northeastern Iowa, where the rolling hills are a study in vivid colors - red barns, white clapboard houses, and vibrant green cornfields plowed with almost architectural precision. It drifted through Postville's downtown, where restaurants serving tamales share...

<p>SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - Workers at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day but will instead be given the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr as a holiday.</p> <p>According to a news release from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, a new 5-year contract at the plant included the change to accommodate the hundreds of Somali Muslims who work at the plant .</p>

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - Workers at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day but will instead be given the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr as a holiday...

<p>TSN 17.11, +0.13, +0.8%) dropped 8% to close at $16.98 Tuesday following a report that 15,000 chickens in a northwest Arkansas plant had tested positive for a mild strain of avian influenza.</p> <p>U.S. Dept. of Agriculture spokeswoman Angie Harless said the National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the presence Sunday of avian influenza antibodies in Tyson chickens, indicating that they had a mild strain of avian flu.</p>

When her neighbor's roosters and chickens persisted in running through her yard, G. Stone took matters into her own hands. She marched next door and issued a warning: Do something about the uninvited guests or the birds "were going in my pot." The incursions stopped. But Stone, a retired Los Angeles County librarian who lives northwest of Watts, shook her head in exasperation as she recalled the incident. "I've lived here for 50 years," she said. "All of a sudden, there's an influx of chickens. You're not supposed to have chickens in the city." For many, the image of South...

   International Respect for Chickens Day, May 4, celebrates the devotion of hens to their chicks and deplores the suffering of motherless chickens on factory farms. In this photo, Ruby fosters Ivy, a chick rescued from a factory farm in North Carolina to live in a safe and loving home. (PRNewsFoto/United Poultry Concerns)MACHIPONGO, VA UNITED STATES May is International Respect for Chickens Month MACHIPONGO, Va., April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- InternationalRespect for Chickens Day, May 4, celebrates the dignity, beauty and life ofchickens and protests against the bleakness of their lives in farmingoperations. Launched by United Poultry Concerns in 2005,...

First Lt. Michael Falk, Troop A, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, currently attached to 2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div., rescues a chick while poultry farmers load 6,000 of them onto trucks in Hawr Rajab, April 27. The chicks were purchased by the Baghdad-7 ePRT to help jump-start chicken farms in the area, which have suffered in recent years due to insurgent activity. Photo by Sgt. David Turner. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Two Iraqi poultry farmers received 3,000 chicks each April 27 in a bid to jump-start their industry in Hawr Rajab, a...

BAGHDAD, April 28, 2008 – Chicken farmers in Mahmudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, received the jumpstart their industry needed with the arrival of 45,000 eggs, each ready for hatching. Army Capt. Benjamin Neusse, a civil military operations officer with 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, speaks with workers in the Mahmudiyah, Iraq, chicken hatchery, April 21, 2008. Photo by Army Pvt. Christopher McKenna, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. One of many economic projects initiated by Task Force Marne, revitalizing the region’s ailing poultry industry ranks as a top priority. Such initiatives...

A worker in the Mahmudiyah Chicken Hatchery sets eggs into trays April 21 to begin the incubation process. U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Christopher McKenna, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT). FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH — Eight months of preparation and planning paid off when the Mahmudiyah Chicken Hatchery received the first of three shipments of eggs for incubation April 21. The first batch contained 35,000 eggs shipped to Iraq from Holland. “The purpose in bringing in eggs from Holland is that they have a faster growing rate and they’re healthier than chickens from within this area,� said Maj. Alaric...

Bird flu in one way or another is wiping out poultry in South Korea Published: Monday, 21-Apr-2008 Disease/Infection News Following the announcement by officials in South Korea of another bird flu outbreak, 5.3 million birds are expected to be culled to control the spread of the deadly virus. This latest outbreak in South Korea is the 17th case of bird flu in three weeks and is the country's fastest and biggest ever outbreak of avian influenza. Officials at the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries say that the case which tested positive for the H5N1 virus, appeared on a...

Lawyers suing Pilgrim’s Pride in Alabama said Wednesday’s roundup of undocumented employees at other company plants underscores their claims that the chicken-processing giant illegally is hiring immigrant workers to suppress wages. “Assuming that these individuals being detained are found to be in this country illegally, I think it reinforces our contention that there has been an ongoing practice of employing illegal workers at Pilgrim’s Pride,” said Jeremy Hutchinson, a Little Rock, Ark., attorney who is soliciting plaintiffs for a potential class-action suit against the company. Pilgrim’s Pride, the nation’s largest chicken company with more than 54,000 employees at 37 plants,...

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Federal immigration authorities raided seven Mexican restaurants in four states Wednesday, arresting 56 people, including 11 accused of conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants. The immigrants were primarily undocumented Mexicans forced to staff the restaurants for long hours with little pay to work off smuggling fees and rent, authorities said. Ten individuals were arrested in Mentor and Willoughby in northeast Ohio, at Jalapeno Loco Mexican Restaurant and two houses, said Greg Palmore, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Two face charges of conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants and the rest face immigration violations. The arrests began at...

Federal agents began a probe into immigration violations today in Chattanooga and several other states. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents along with Chattanooga police raided the Pilgrim's Pride plants in South Chattanooga this morning. They loaded vans with suspected illegal immigrants. Other agents hit Pilgrim's Pride plants in Florida and Arkansas. The probe centers around an alleged scam to provide fake identification for illegal immigrant workers. Pilgrim's Pride reportedly is cooperating in the investigation.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Chicken farming in Iraq is moving toward pre-war levels, as Coalition forces work with farmers to overcome challenges. There are about seven functioning chicken houses in the region where 3rd Battalion, 7th infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division operates, and dialogue has begun with the owners on how to increase production. One of the first areas where the unit discovered chicken houses was the community of Abu Lukah. It has four chicken houses, three of which are functioning. The first visit by the unit was at the end of January during which...

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation on Wednesday announced it will close a chicken processing complex and six of its 13 distribution centers in the United States. None of the impacted facilities are in Texas. Company officials said the action was in response to what they deemed a crisis facing the U.S. chicken industry from soaring feed-ingredient costs resulting from corn-based ethanol production."Our Company and industry are struggling to cope with unprecedented increases in feed-ingredient costs this year due largely to the U.S. government's ill-advised policy of providing generous federal subsidies to corn-based ethanol blenders," said Clint Rivers, president and chief executive officer....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, Feb. 25, 2008 – To some, it might be laughable that the economic welfare of an entire community relies on thousands of flightless birds, but in the farming communities of southern Baghdad, chickens represent a significant way ahead. A member of the State Department’s Baghdad 7 embedded provincial reconstruction team is helping these communities establish themselves as centers of poultry production. “Some of these farmers had over 100,000 chickens at one time,” said Mike Stevens, the team’s agricultural advisor. Stevens, a native of Park Rapids, Minn., said farmers from Adwaniyah, Arab Jabour and Hawr Rajab...

This is none other than Rhode Island’s best rooster crowing contest and in America, number one contest. The applause is a cut section of the applause in the song; King Jesus is a Listening All Night Long, by the 5 blind boys’ of Alabama. The characters are, Clara the RI Hen and Joe Beak RI rooster at left bottom and Sam Loud at bottom right. Voice of contestant #1 Joe Beak is real rooster sound and contestant #2 Sam Loud voice is of o7jimmy.

Gainesville -- Officials at Mar-Jac Poultry said they were shocked to find out Thursday that federal officials suspect the company might have ties to terrorist funding. Company Vice President Doug Carnes said at least a half-dozen U.S. Customs agents spent all day Wednesday gathering financial records and charitable contribution files. They were "real nice, professional and complimentary," he said, but they didn't disclose the nature of their visit. It was only on Thursday that Carnes was alerted by company officials in Virginia as to what the agents were looking for. "I'm shocked. I'm in disbelief. I've worked for them for...

BAGHDAD — With nearly five years of war taking a toll on Iraq’s domestic poultry industry, overall chicken and egg consumption is down in the country, while 40 percent of the commercial eggs consumed in Baghdad are imported. But with recent security improvements, achieved through the cooperation of local residents and a counter-insurgency strategy implemented by Coalition Forces, an opportunity has been gained to resume production. In Mahmudiyah, an agricultural community south of the Iraqi capital, and a traditional hub of Baghdad province’s poultry industry, some of the most violence of the war effectively halted production of a variety of...

KARGULI VILLAGE, Iraq — To build a poultry-based association, American business ideas and Iraqi cultural ways will have to merge. This is especially true in the fertile Euphrates Valley, where agriculture was a fairly profitable business just a few years ago.As part of America’s armed forces of reaching out to civilian communities in an effort to reduce the hold al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgents have on the population, small units are seeking ways to improve the lives of Iraqis in their areas of responsibility. For the Rakkasans of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 187th Infantry, 101st...

The plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing Tyson Foods Inc. of hiring illegal aliens to work at poultry plants are focusing on the meat producer’s relationship with the League of Latin American Citizens. The class-action suit in U. S. District Court in Eastern Tennessee claims Springdale-based Tyson Foods knowingly hired illegal aliens to work for wages below what American workers would take. It was filed in April 2002 on behalf of former Tyson workers in several states, not including Arkansas. Trial is set for March 3. The plaintiffs in Trollinger v. Tyson are chicken plant workers who said they were harmed...

US and Chinese officials recently met in Beijing for agricultural trade talks. However, the two parties failed to agree with issues regarding poultry trade. China's zero-tolerance for salmonella in raw poultry was discussed in length. "How can you produce poultry without traces of salmonella? It's killed when you cook it," said USDA's Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Mark Keenum, who led the US delegation. As for China, "They simply reaffirmed their position," he stated. On the other hand, Keenum said that the USDA is working to produce rules that would allow China to export cooked chicken products to...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says the nation's chicken houses could be added to the list of potential terrorism targets. Under the department's chemical security standards, facilities with more than 1,785 gallons of propane gas could be considered high-risk. Nearly every poultry grower on the Delmarva peninsula would be affected beacause most chicken houses use propane for heat. If designated a security risk, chicken house owners would be required to complete vulnerability assessments and develop site security plans. Senators Mikulski and Cardin from Maryland and Carper from Delaware have sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael...

<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>

Over 100 Poultry Workers in South Carolina Test Positive for TB Acting on reported TB case of one of the workers at the Columbia Farms factory, Health Officials in conjunction with other authorities decided to formally evaluate the entire processing plant and conduct a close-contact investigation. There were 900 workers at this site, but in accordance to a CDC algorithm that assesses risk contacts, officials only tested 286 of the factories employees. Out of this group, 131 exhibited a positive skin test for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (TB, Tuberculum Bacillum) is chiefly caused by a species of bacteria called mycobacterium tuberculosis. This...

Associated Press NEW YORK -- NEW YORK Tyson Foods will no longer use antibiotics to raise chicken that is sold fresh in stores and will launch a $70 million advertising campaign to tout the shift, the nation's largest meat producer said Tuesday. The company said fresh chicken raised without antibiotics was shipped to stores Monday and will be sold beginning later this week in packaging that emphasizes that there are no artificial ingredients. "We're providing mainstream consumers with products they want," Tyson Chief Executive Richard L. Bond said at a news conference. Consumers will have to pay slightly more for...

Chicken bones show Polynesians went to Chile By MAGGIE FOX - Reuters | Tuesday, 5 June 2007 A chicken bone found in Chile provides solid evidence to settle a debate over whether Polynesians travelling on rafts visited South America thousands of years ago – or vice versa, New Zealand researchers have said. The DNA in the bone carries a rare mutation that links it to chickens in Tonga and Samoa, and radiocarbon dating shows it is around 600 years old – meaning it predates the arrival of Spanish conquerors in South America. "These chickens are related to hens from Polynesia,"...

Friday is International Respect for Chickens Day Every so often a press release comes scratching at the door and just CROWS for your attention. Why did this press release cross the road? To stick up for chickens! MACHIPONGO, Va., May 1, PRNewswire — United Poultry Concerns is pleased to announce our Third Annual International Respect for Chickens Day, May 4. We urge everyone to do an ACTION of compassion for chickens that day — from writing a letter to the editor to tabling at a local mall to showing the movie Chicken Run to going vegan — for life. What...

Those familiar with the political scene know the unexpected is often expected, and March 2 was an example of that when opponents to the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) marched to the state Capitol in Austin. The event included people from all over Texas, either walking or riding one of the many horses, tractors, or flat-bed trailers. The march included a woman with a caged chicken on the head, children enjoying the excitement, and plenty of signs that ranged from “Don’t Tag Texas” to “Think green ... not pavement.” One person in the parade was NAIS...

Feds to Toughen Meat, Poultry Inspection Sunday February 18, 2007 6:46 PM By LIBBY QUAID AP Food and Farm Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The first major changes to food inspection in a decade will increase federal scrutiny of meat and poultry plants where the danger from E. coli and other germs is high or where past visits have found unsafe practices. The new policy will result in fewer inspections at plants with lower risks and better records for handling meat and poultry. ``We're just putting resources where the risk is greatest, and those plants that demonstrate excellent control will get...

HOLTON, England -- Britain scrambled to contain its first outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu in domestic poultry yesterday after the virus was found at a farm run by Europe's biggest turkey producer. About 2,500 turkeys have died since Thursday at the Bernard Matthews farm near Lowestoft in eastern England. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said all 159,000 turkeys on the farm would be culled. "We're in new territory," National Farmers' Union Poultry Board Chairman Charles Bourns said. "We've every confidence in DEFRA, but until we know how this disease arrived,...

Russian Minister of Agriculture Alexey Gordeev met with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday in Sochi to discuss trade with the United States. Gordeev has suggested depriving the U.S. of its 80-percent quota on chicken imports to Russia in response to the U.S. refusal to sign off on Russia's accession to the World Trade Association.

The Vermont Standard, a weekly newspaper, ran a very biased article about NAIS and Premise ID that looked like it had been written by the Public Relations officer from the Vermont Department of Agriculture. Here is my Letter to the Editor in reply:The Vermont Standard Post Office Box 88 Woodstock, Vermont 05091 802-457-1313vstand@sover.nethttp://www.vermontstandard.net Dear Editor, I read your article "Some Bird Raisers Cry Fowl Over Pending Regulations" and was very disappointed. Your writer, Cassie Horner, just doesn't get it. Premise ID and the USDA's proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) will do nothing to protect us from Avian Influenza (AI),...

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The U.N. health agency described the deaths of six Indonesian family members from bird flu as the most important development in the spread of the virus since 2003, saying it is investigating whether the disease has spread from person to person. "We have a team down there, they are examining what is going on and they can't find an animal source of this infection," said Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the Western Pacific region of the World Health Organization. "This is the first time that we've been completely stumped" by a source for the infection, he said. Six...

CHICAGO - Buying organic milk these days - or organic apples, eggs, or beef - no longer has to mean an extra trip to a Whole Foods supermarket or the local co-op. Organic products now line the shelves at Safeway and Costco. And Wal-Mart - already the nation's largest organic-milk seller - says it wants to sell more organic food. Large companies including Kraft, General Mills, and Kellogg own sizable organic- and natural-food brands. Now, they are developing organic versions of their own products, too. Still, while some organic-food fans welcome its broadening appeal and availability, others worry that the...

EU to help stricken poultry farms France is the biggest poultry exporter in the EU European Union agriculture ministers have approved a subsidy package for poultry farmers hit by falling sales and prices due to bird flu. The European Commission will cover half the costs incurred by EU governments. Farmers will be eligible if they can prove that bird flu led to a slump in demand for their poultry. EU data show that poultry sales have fallen by up to 70% in some EU countries, while prices have slumped by 13% on average. Poultry sales are especially weak in Italy,...

WASHINGTON - Poultry processed in China will be allowed to enter the United States despite outbreaks of deadly bird flu in China, the Bush administration said Thursday. Critics said the imported poultry will put public health at risk. The Agriculture Department said the meat would be fully cooked and perfectly safe. "It will have been processed," said Richard Raymond, the department's undersecretary for food safety. "Cooking will kill the virus, if there is any virus, in poultry meat." The U.S. does not accept live poultry from countries where the virulent flu strain is present. That policy has not changed. The...

Shares of Tyson Foods Inc., the nation's largest chicken and beef producer, fell Thursday after the company slashed its earnings outlook because bird flu fears are suppressing demand and prices for exported chicken. Tyson of Springdale, Ark., saw its stock retreat 2.6%, or 35 cents, to close at $12.92. The shares lost as much as 3.9% at one point in the session. After the markets closed Wednesday, the company forecast a second-quarter loss of 38 cents a share and set a fiscal 2006 range for a loss of 25 cents to earnings of 10 cents a share. Analysts polled by...

PINE BLUFF, Ark. - A Tyson Foods Inc. employee who had just been suspended from his job returned to the poultry processing plant carrying two pistols and opened fire, wounding a co-worker before police shot the gunman, officials said. The victim was shot in the groin but listed in good condition at a hospital Thursday morning. The 24-year-old suspected gunman was in critical condition. Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said the worker had been escorted out of the plant Wednesday evening but reappeared later that night with weapons. "While we're still gathering details, we can tell you plant supervisors began evacuating...

Avian flu: wild birds, pets and poultry now at risk More swans tested amid fears deadly virus will spread across UK Sandra Laville and Ian Sample Friday April 7, 2006 The Guardian (UK) The lethal avian flu virus found in a swan in Scotland is almost certain to spread to wild birds across the UK before threatening Britain's poultry industry, experts warned yesterday. Their prediction came as a further 14 swans were being tested for the deadly H5N1 virus that scientists yesterday confirmed had killed the mute swan found in the village of Cellardyke in Fife. The investigation has now...

Bird flu alert: infected swan is found in Fife Swan populations across Scotland will come under increased scrutiny as the birds are thought to be one of the most prolific carriers. Picture: Rob McDougall * A dead swan found in Fife has tested positive for bird flu * The tests have yet to prove if it is the H5N1 strain of the virus * There is a 3km protection zone around the site at Cellardyke Key quote "We must interrogate the forensics - how did the bird get there, was this the index case or was it another bird that...

"Unlawful Possession Of Laying Hens" Egg farmer stands his ground in raid By NICK GARDINER Staff Writer SHANLY -- A 10-hour standoff between federal food inspectors and a local egg farmer backed by 40 landowners ended Thursday evening when thousands of confiscated eggs and chickens - many dead or dying after going hours without ventilation or water - were released back to the owner. Inspectors who raided the County Road 21 farm near the Grenville-Dundas County border allege Shawn Carmichael, owner of Carmichael Poultry Farm at 317 County Road 21, had been selling ungraded or improperly graded eggs and lacked...

March 21, 2006 Business Prepares for the Possibility of Avian Flu in the United States By MELANIE WARNER The deadly strain of avian flu has not been found anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, but Mark Holden, a chicken grower for Tyson Foods in Ellijay, Ga., is not taking any chances. Every seven weeks a group of his chickens is tested before the birds are sent to be slaughtered. All people who enter or leave the chicken houses must walk through disinfecting baths. And visitors and workers must wear plastic booties over their shoes. "Even though we don't have any outbreak...

“We’ve fanned the flames of fear about this stuff,” said CNN’s Jack Cafferty on March 18. He was talking about bird flu, and his admission just confirmed the Free Market Project’s ongoing analysis of media coverage. The “In the Money” co-host’s comments came as the show’s panel looked at “Stock of the Week” Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN), which has seen a 20-percent loss in value recently from overseas bird flu scares. Co-host Jennifer Westhoven marveled at the American public’s apparent nonchalance about the H5N1 avian flu virus. “I’m amazed that Americans at this point are really fairly unconcerned” about bird...

Spooked by Bird Flu, Egyptians Hoard Water Residents of Cairo Fear Chickens Dumped in the Nile Could Infect Their Drinking Supply By Daniel Williams Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, February 26, 2006; A12 CAIRO, Feb. 25 -- Of all the panicky ways that people worldwide have sought protection from bird flu, perhaps the most striking took root among Egyptians last week. Via e-mail and through advice dispensed on crowded city streets, word went out: Don't drink the water. Farmers, including the rooftop poultry breeders that are a Cairo fixture, had begun to dump stricken, dead chickens into the Nile River,...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The integrity and competence of the U.S. Department of Agriculture were called into question Thursday by U.S. senators concerned with the USDA's failure for several years to investigate anti-competitive cases in the livestock and meat packing sectors. "It is totally unacceptable of our government to conduct business in this way," Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said at a Thursday hearing. He threatened to call USDA officials back up to Capitol Hill again if improvements aren't made. The Senate committee called the Thursday hearing to demand answers from the USDA over a recent Inspector General report charging...

What is NAIS? NAIS is the USDA's National Animal Identification System Draft Strategic Plan to let the government track the births, deaths, co-mingling and all movements of all livestock in the United States. http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/about/pdf/NAIS_Draft_Strategic_Plan_42505.pdf Which animals are covered? Currently horses, cattle, goats, poultry, sheep, swine, alpacas, llamas, bison, deer and elk. NAIS is not limited to these animals and may also be extended to include dogs, rabbits & other animals. See documents at: http://nonais.org/index.php/2006/02/18/ Who must participate? Anyone with one or more of the covered animals will be required to register their home or business for a 7-digit Premises Identification...

US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns says the United States is preparing for a likely outbreak of avian flu and assured consumers that poultry remains safe to eat. "There is no way to put a big cage around the United States. I think it is fair to assume we'll deal with ... avian influenza," said Johanns, who was attending a pork producers' meeting in Kansas City. "We could see it in domestic flocks as well as (wild) birds." The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed birds in more than 30 countries in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa. It has...