Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico’s agriculture ministry on Saturday reported outbreaks of highly pathogenic H7N3 bird flu virus in two hatching egg production barns in the northern state of Coahuila, which borders on Texas.
The strain in question has existed in some regions of the country since 2012, the ministry said in a statement.
Officials said they’ve quarantined the farm and ordered the culling of 70,000 chickens to contain the spread.
The farm is in the municipality of General Cepeda in the state’s southeast, about 350 km southwest of the U.S. border at Laredo, Tex.
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Health officials have been on alert for new viruses in the country since the 2009 outbreak of H1N1 virus, known as “swine flu,” that shut down the capital city for several days when it was detected in people.
The ag ministry, in its release, said the country’s hatching egg sector produces about 1.76 billion chickens a year, so the cull at the one farm doesn’t pose a significant risk to the Mexican food supply.
— Reporting for Reuters by Adriana Barrera and Stefanie Eschenbacher. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.
