Low Pathogen Bird Flu Suspected in Alabama

Low pathogenic avian influenza was reported this week at three northern Alabama sites, after being found recently at two farms in Tennessee, and another in Wisconsin. State officials from Alabama say more chickens will be culled to contain the virus, if confirmed. Test results were expected back from the Agriculture Department Thursday. The cases in Alabama are suspected to be the less dangerous form of the bird flu, known as low pathogenic, because the infected flocks did not have high levels of mortality, according to Reuters. An Alabama agriculture official said the cases were found in a commercial breeding facility and a backyard flock. Poultry is the top produced agricultural product in Alabama, which is home to some 5,600 poultry farms. The flocks were within close proximity to a farm in neighboring Tennessee where the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed high pathogenic avian influenza earlier this month. That remains the only confirmed outbreak of HPAI in the United States this year