SENASICA alert for H7N3 avian influenza outbreak in Texas
870 000 dead birds so far, confirms FAO

Guadalajara, Jal., June 29 (La Jornada). - The National Health Service, Food Safety and Food Quality (SENASICA) activated the national emergency device of animal health in the region of Los Altos, Jalisco, because it detected a million 700 000 birds infected with the outbreak of avian influenza A in the municipalities of Acatic and Tepatitlán, where they have reviewed 111 poultry farms and 15 backyard farms.

This body, under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, said that until Friday had detected the presence of exotic virus, subtype H7N3, in 10 farms, adding that the medical device applied on farms and covers a backyard flock of 6 million 120 thousand 500 birds.

Reported that the farms are under quarantine, in addition to maintaining, in coordination with the poultry industry, national and regional control measures to prevent affected birds, meat, offal and poultry contaminated are transported to other areas.

Broken down until Friday afternoon had risen 4 000 209 samples in the region where the outbreak emerged, which are analyzed in the Laboratory Diagnosis Regional Emerging Diseases, located in El Salto, Jalisco, and the Mobile Health Laboratory SENASICA animal, which was sent to the region. He added that are applied first shots acquired in Asia, seeking to alleviate the problem.

The number of birds that have died from disease or been killed as a control and eradication is 870 thousand to today, a figure confirmed by the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO for its acronym in English), based regional is in Santiago, Chile.

In a statement, the FAO, said that according to information received from the Mexican authorities, the birds showed severe symptoms and death between 32 and 94 weeks of age.

In Mexico there had been the presence of this subtype of influenza, "recognized as very aggressive poultry." The previous outbreak of bird flu occurred in 1994 and was the H5N2 subtype.

Outbreaks of the same strain occurred recently in Chile, where affected over 500 000 birds with damage estimated at $ 31 million. In Canada caused the slaughter of 17 million birds.

The outbreak in Mexico caused the price increases by 50 percent the price of chicken and egg in the metropolitan area of ​​Guadalajara to the shortage that is beginning to suffer from in shops and supermarkets pollerías.