Mexico Destroys 1 Million Chickens for Bird Flu Sky News
go to original July 6, 2012

A worker walks in front of chickens under quarantine in Jalisco state.

An outbreak of the H7N3 bird flu virus in Mexico has infected about 2.5 million chickens and led to nearly one million birds being destroyed by authorities.

The strain was detected in the western state of Jalisco, which is the country's largest chicken farming region.

The scare has led to price rises in poultry products in Mexico as authorities try to contain the outbreak.

Officials said 129 farms in Jalisco have been inspected and the virus was confirmed in birds at 24 of the sites. Tests have continued on most of the rest.

The farms in question have been placed under quarantine, the agriculture department said.

"There is no risk of infection (in humans) as a result of consuming poultry," said Jose Munoz from the Jalisco state government earlier in the week.

Jalisco produces around 11% of the country's poultry meat and 50% of its eggs, according to the US department of agriculture.

As a precautionary measure, Mexican authorities declared a national animal health emergency on Monday to help prevent the disease spreading to other parts of Mexico or further afield.

The ministry has ordered vaccinations from Asia and is also developing its own drugs domestically to combat the flu.

Health officials are on high alert for new viruses in Mexico since the outbreak of H1N1 virus, known as "swine flu", in 2009 that shut down the capital, Mexico City, for several days when it was detected in humans.

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