US chicken exports rise - bird flu - US #1 poultry exporter, mass asian poultry cull

Agriculture online ^

[Logical Extinction]

FACTBOX-Bird flu outbreak in Asia

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Asia is grappling with an outbreak of bird flu virus that has killed 8 people -- 6 in Vietnam and 2 in Thailand.

The following are facts about the outbreak that has spread to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Laos, and China.
Some of these countries have confirmed an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of the virus, which can affect humans, while Taiwan said it had only seen a milder strain, H5N2 [& Pakistan says it's strain is H7].

THAILAND [1st official notification 23 Jan 2004, A/H5N1]

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- The virus has killed 2 young boys in Thailand.
- Thailand has the 4th-largest chicken industry in the world, with annual exports worth USD 1.5 billion. It has destroyed around 10 million chickens.

- Japan and the European Union, Thailand's 2 biggest customers, have banned its poultry.

- The industry contributes about one percent to the country's GDP. About 81 000 families rely on the industry for a living. The industry employs hundreds of thousands of people on 30 000 poultry farms and in related industries, such as animal feed.

VIETNAM [1st official notification 9 Jan 2004, A/H5N1]

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- 6 people, including 5 children, have been confirmed killed by avian flu. 5 of the cases were from north Vietnam, one from Ho Chi Minh City in the south.

- An estimated 3.8 million chickens have been slaughtered or killed by the virus. Not a major exporter of poultry.

SOUTH KOREA [1st official notification 12 Dec 2003, AH5N1]

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- South Korea has slaughtered almost 2.5 million of its 108 million poultry after finding bird flu in 16 farms since the outbreak was first reported on 10 Dec 2003.
- South Korea's livestock industry makes up around 0.4 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

JAPAN [1st official notification 16 Jan 2004, H5N1]

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- One farm in Yamaguchi prefecture, southwest Japan, has been hit by an outbreak of bird flu. All the roughly 34 600 chickens on the farm have either died of bird flu or been slaughtered.

- The output of Japan's chicken industry in 2001 was 670 billion yen, around 0.1 percent of the country's gross domestic product that year.

TAIWAN [1st reports 15 Jan 2004, Low pathogenic A/H5N2, no official notification required. see 20040118.0202]

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- Taiwan is fighting the outbreak of a lesser strain of the avian flu, H5N2. It has slaughtered 55 000 chickens since the flu was discovered earlier in January 2004.

- Taiwan produced chickens and eggs worth T$37 billion (US$1.1 billion) in 2002, contributing about 0.4 percent to GDP.

INDONESIA [1st rumors 19 Nov 2003, see 20031119.2872; 1st official confirmation to press, 26 Jan 2004, indicating H5N1 since Nov-Dec 2003, see
20040126.0308; no official notification to date].

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- Some 4.7 million chickens have died since November 2003. Officials said 40 percent were infected with both avian influenza and Newcastle disease.

- At least 400 farms spread throughout the vast archipelago have been affected by the outbreak.

CAMBODIA [1st official notification 24 Jan 2004, A/H5N1]

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- The poultry sector in Cambodia is relatively small.

PAKISTAN [1st official notification 28 Jan 2004, "H7 strain"]

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- The outbreak has killed up to 2 million birds, but officials say the strains detected are less harmful to humans than elsewhere in Asia.

LAOS [1st official notification 27 Jan 2004, H5; final identification pending]

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- One confirmed outbreak of bird flu. Some 3500 chickens have died close to the capital, Vientiane, since 14 Jan 2004.

CHINA [1st official notification 28 Jan 2004, H5N1]

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- One outbreak of bird flu confirmed on a farm in southern Guangxi. China has begun slaughtering all fowl within 6 km (4 miles) of a suburban farm in the southern province of Hunan where authorities are investigating the deaths of chickens from suspected bird flu.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

What do you do with them?

I frequent Carl's Jr for chicken!

[farmfriend]

Boneless breast are very utilitarian. You can use them for everything from Cordon Blue to stir fry. There are also some great box meals that can be found near the hamberger helper that take chicken breast for those who can't or won't cook.

[Logical Extinction]

The pattern of spread strongly suggests that the virus has been carried by people smuggling poultry, a practice reportedly widespread in southeast Asia. Some experts blame migratory birds, but there is no evidence of this.

It is certainly true that in regions with big outbreaks in poultry, local wild birds are being affected. There are reports of mass die-offs of rare birds in zoos in Thailand, and pigeons are said to be piling up in the streets of Bangkok.

However, regular monitoring of migratory birds in Thailand has not revealed any signs of the virus.

[Logical Extinction]

Cluck

[lewislynn]

What do you do with them?

I frequent Carl's Jr for chicken!

If you like chicken sandwiches, get a George Foreman grill, buy some boneless breasts, fresh rolls and whatever else you like on your sandwich.

You can cook the breast in about 7 minutes, place it on your preferred fixens and enjoy a hot chicken sanwich with little to no effort.

BTW, hamburgers from the George Foreman are just as fast and easy...unless you're worried about the hamburger meat.

I frequently come home for lunch and do one of the two...

[budwiesest]

Mad cows, sick chickens. I'd be buying futures in "the other white meat".

[Logical Extinction]

The CDC is not warning people against travel to countries affected by avian flu now, but travelers in those areas should avoid poultry farms, live animal markets, and surfaces contaminated with waste from infected birds, Gerberding said.


Contrary to some reports, she said, "Pigs have not yet been identified as being sick [with the H5N1 virus], but we are working with other investigators to evaluate pigs on farms, especially those that have birds." Pigs are thought to have played a role in past flu pandemics by providing a vessel where avian flu viruses combined with other flu viruses to spawn dangerous new strains.

[Logical Extinction]

Ping

[Logical Extinction]

Ping

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[Logical Extinction]

Bird flu continues to spread across Southeast Asia. (Reuters)

Indonesia orders mass bird flu cull

Indonesia on Thursday ordered the immediate killing of all poultry infected with bird flu as it started to fall in line with other Asian nations following pressure from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"However much it will cost, we will help the farmers," said Mr Kalla, adding that culls will be carried out "anywhere" fowls are infected.

He said he believed authorities were aware of guidelines which stipulate that even healthy chickens should be killed on a farm if some birds on that farm are infected.

Indonesia says millions of birds across much of the vast archipelago have been infected.

[Logical Extinction]

KFC Takes Chicken Off the Menu

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -- Eight of the nine KFC restaurants in Vietnam, which has stopped some poultry sales to halt its bird flu epidemic, will serve fish and pasta instead of fried chicken when they open Saturday after being closed more than a week. Business fell about 30 percent after people died of bird flu in Vietnam, KFC Vietnam General Director Pornchai Thuratum said.

"We can't find the supply in Ho Chi Minh City, and the government isn't allowing chickens to be transported across provinces, so there was no point in trying to stay open serving chicken," Thuratum said in an interview in Ho Chi Minh City.

The eight Ho Chi Minh City outlets will serve non-chicken dishes for about a month, the amount of time it needs to arrange imports of U.S. chicken, Thuratum said. The outlet in neighboring Dong Nai province has reopened serving local chicken, he said.

[Logical Extinction]

The European Union (news - web sites) said on Monday its ban on poultry imports from Thailand was likely to remain for some time, reflecting fierce criticism of Bangkok's slow response to the outbreak of avian flu.

 It comes just days after Thailand confirmed an outbreak of the highly contagious disease, which has killed a six-year-old Thai boy and six people in Vietnamand threatens to lay waste to large parts of south-east Asia's poultry industry.

Thailand exports 120,000 tonnes of chicken a year to the EU, its second biggest market after Japan.

News of the first fatality in Thailand caused a 3.8 per cent drop in Thai stocks. Thailand is the world's fourth-largest chicken exporter - and the biggest in Asia - and concerns about the economic impact of the disease have left investors jittery.

[mtbopfuyn]

What the heck is going on over there? Every virus or flu seems to originate there.

[mtbopfuyn]

Thighs are cheaper. Take the bone out of thighs and use same way as breasts.

[Logical Extinction]

  Thursday, January 29, 2004
 Local News

Asia's avian flu outbreak could benefit U.S. industry

By John Vandiver

SALISBURY -- An avian influenza outbreak stretching across much of East Asia, killing tens of millions of chickens, could provide a boost to the U.S. poultry industry as product demands increase in foreign markets.

"Some of the big players are on record as saying they may see increases," said Richard Lobb of the National Chicken Council, an industry trade group.

For example, Thailand is a major chicken exporter in Asia, but its products have been banned from the Japanese market. Japan also has banned poultry from Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia, all impacted by the virus.

Millions of birds have been slaughtered in the affected countries in an effort to stem the spread of the disease.
David Pogge, president of Mountaire Farms Inc. in Selbyville, said most U.S. chicken producers that export have markets in Asia.

[Logical Extinction]

In southern China people, pigs and poultry are all crowded together in squalid living conditions.

It is the perfect petri dish for the development of viruses.

H5N1 can be transmitted from fowl to humans. It is a very virulent strain and very worrisome.

[farmfriend]

I like the thighs, more flavor. Family doesn't however.