- NEW YORK -- The spectre of
bird flu spreading in the US was raised yesterday as American health officials
confirmed that a second farm had tested positive for the infection.
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- The Delaware agriculture department admitted that it
had been caught by surprise at the discovery, which occurred at least five
miles away from the farm where last week a flock of chickens was found
to have avian flu. Tests on 20 chicken houses in a two-mile radius of that
farm had been negative, the department said.
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- China joined the growing number of countries banning
US poultry imports, just hours before the announcement of the second discovery.
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- Poland, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea have
all banned imports from the US, while the biggest market for American poultry,
Russia, has imposed a ban on chickens from Delaware.
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- On Monday, Vietnam confirmed that another two people
had died from a more virulent strain of bird flu, bringing the country's
death toll to 14. Thailand has reported five deaths. Most of the human
deaths have been traced to direct contact with sick birds.
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- The flu strain in the US is different from that in Asia
and officials say there is no threat to human health. But Delaware state
officials admitted they were baffled by its spread and cancelled all sales
of live poultry and farm equipment, as well as calling off meetings of
chicken farmers in the state.
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- The state's agriculture secretary, Michael Scuse, said
Delaware would take "immediate action" to contain the disease,
including the slaughter of 72,000 chickens. It has already slaughtered
12,000 birds following the first case emerging last week.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,14207,1145465,00.html
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