Avian Influenza Expands

Avian influenza is now being reported in several other locations across the west and northwest. Clallam County on the northern tip of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula has been added to the list of counties with reported cases of the H5N2 virus. This is the fourth county in Washington State to be identified. Officials plan to impose a ban on the movement of eggs in a 6-mile radius of the infection area. The flu has now been found in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah and British Columbia.

And now the Idaho State Department of Agriculture has initiated a multi-agency investigation following the confirmation of a avian influenza, originating from wild waterfowl, in western and southern Idaho. Dr. Bill Barton, ISDA State Veterinarian says they have been proactive after the BC discovery.

BARTON: We enhanced our wild water fowl surveillance through the Idaho Department of Fish and Game as well as USDA Wildlife Services and we started outreach to what few commercial poultry operations we have in Idaho. We don't have very many but to them and also everyone that's registered on our National Poultry Improvement program just trying to get the word out that there's a problem.

Again, there have been no human illnesses associated with the virus anywhere in the world, to date and it has not been found in commercial poultry anywhere in the United States.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.