Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — A strain of avian flu that until now had been found only in the western U.S. has cropped up in Indiana, bringing the total number of states affected by the virulent outbreak to 15, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday. The eastward spread of any strain of the highly contagious H5 virus […] Read more
H5N8 avian flu found in Indiana
Tyson to end use of human antibiotics in U.S. chickens by 2017
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. poultry producer, plans to eliminate use of human antibiotics in its chicken flocks by September 2017, one of the most aggressive timetables yet set by an American poultry company. The Arkansas-based chicken and meat company also said Tuesday it is working on ways to curtail such […] Read more
Minnesota declares state of emergency over avian flu
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Minnesota declared a state of emergency on Thursday over a fast-spreading strain of avian flu that has led to the extermination of more than 7.3 million birds in the country. It followed Wisconsin’s action on Monday. The highly pathogenic H5N2 strain of bird flu has been identified on 46 Minnesota farms […] Read more
U.S. could use vaccines being developed to fight bird flu in poultry
Reading Time: 4 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Faced with a deadly bird flu outbreak that has infected millions of chickens and turkeys, the U.S. Agriculture Department could turn to what it has always seen as a last resort: readying and deploying a vaccine to fight the disease. Up to now, USDA has said it would prefer not to […] Read more
U.S. meat industry bought more human antibiotics to 2013, FDA says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Sales of medically important antibiotics in the U.S. for use in livestock jumped by 20 per cent between 2009 and 2013, federal regulators said on Friday, although recent statements by producers suggest those figures could be dropping. Between 2012 and 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said its annual report, […] Read more
U.S. exports at risk as bird flu enters heart of poultry country
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A case of bird flu confirmed Wednesday in the heart of America’s poultry region, is certain to mean more export restrictions, increasing U.S. supply and likely forcing the world’s biggest poultry companies to trim prices. The U.S. government announced the infection of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian flu in turkeys in Arkansas […] Read more
KFC faces pressure after McDonald’s says no antibiotics in chicken
Reading Time: 3 minutes Los Angeles/Chicago | Reuters — KFC, the world’s largest chain of fried chicken restaurants, may face pressure from consumer and environmental groups to change how its poultry are raised after McDonald’s said it would switch to chicken raised without human antibiotics. McDonald’s will phase out chicken raised with antibiotics that are important to human health […] Read more
McDonald’s to phase out human antibiotics from U.S. chicken supply
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — McDonald’s U.S. restaurants will gradually stop buying chicken raised with antibiotics vital to fighting human infections, the most aggressive step by a major food company to change chicken producers’ practices in the fight against dangerous “superbugs.” The world’s biggest restaurant chain announced on Wednesday that within two years, McDonald’s USA will only buy […] Read more
New Washington poultry quarantine set up near B.C. border
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The state of Washington said Tuesday it has established a third poultry quarantine zone just outside British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, after state officials discovered a flock of about 100 birds infected with an avian influenza virus. The Washington State Department of Agriculture adopted an emergency rule on Sunday to establish the new quarantine […] Read more
U.S. ag secretary orders update of agency’s animal welfare research strategy
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has directed agency staff to create and deliver an updated animal welfare strategy plan within 60 days, according to an internal email reviewed by Reuters. The emailed memo from Chavonda Jacobs-Young, head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, was sent to all Animal […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
