Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho state Agriculture Department official says highly contagious avian flu has been found in two spots in southwest Idaho's Canyon County.
The Idaho Statesman reports (http://is.gd/Wja5Zc ) Bill Barton, a state veterinarian, says three privately owned falcons tested positive for avian flu after interacting with wild, migrating waterfowl. A flock of chickens kept in a residential back yard in the county also tested positive.
Barton says the avian flu strains in question are not harmful to humans.
He says the flu is more of a threat to domestic birds than to Idaho's agriculture sector. In Barton's words, "We don't have much of a poultry industry at all, but there's a fair number of people with backyard chicken flocks."
Avian flu has been found in four counties in Washington state.
A wild duck shot by a hunter in Oregon's Willamette Valley has also tested positive for it.
A December avian flu outbreak in southwest British Columbia led to nearly 250,000 chickens and turkeys being destroyed.
___
Information from: Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
