Page 15 of articles about influenza

While May was expected to be the month in which U.S. pork exports were most affected by A-H1N1 influenza, the impact has not been as negative as some analysts had predicted, according to an analysis of USDA statistics by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

The infected farm, an industrial-type holding with full production cycle applying biosecurity measures, is located in Cañuelas (Buenos Aires).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it will make the master seed virus (MSV) for the novel H1N1 flu available to interested veterinary biologics manufacturers.

Some analysts have predicted that the U.S. pork industry could lose up to $400 million in the next few months, given lower market prices; others estimate that from 25% to 33% of U.S. hog producers may be adversely effected.

Ecuador, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates and Honduras have lifted temporary restrictions on pork imports from Mexico, the Economy Ministry said Tuesday.

Since the appearance of the new swine flu in humans in several countries, the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) has introduced new restrictions on the importation of pigs, pig meat and derived products.

The Egyptian government decided to spend 45 million Egyptian pounds (about 8 million U.S dollars) on compensating pig farmers as the authorities are culling all pigs in the country, Al Ahram daily reported Wednesday.

After the detection of the A/H1N1 virus in pigs in Canada transmitted by a human, FAO has again urged national authorities and farmers to carefully monitor pigs and investigate any possible occurrences of influenza-like symptoms in domestic animals.

The novel A/H1N1 influenza virus has been identified and being very closely related to the human strains based on the genes sequenced so far. Full characterisation is continuing and so is virus isolation in eggs. It is highly probable that the pigs were exposed to the virus from a farm worker who had recently returned from Mexico and had been exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) indicates that it has found H1N1 flu virus in a swine herd in Alberta. The safety of the food supply is not affected and Canadian pork continues to be safe to eat. While further testing is needed to more fully characterize the virus, the CFIA is taking a precautionary approach. The herd has been placed under quarantine, and the Agency is working with public health colleagues to determine the most appropriate next steps to ensure that public and animal health remain protected. The chance that these pigs could transfer virus to a person is remote.

Incorrect reporting of the H1N1 flu as "swine" flu has compounded the economic squeeze the U.S. pork industry has experienced during the past 19 months, when producers lost an average of $20 per hog, N.P.P.C. continued. Producers have lost another $6 per pig, with average hog prices falling from $124 a head on April 24 to $118 on April 28, since the flu outbreak became a major news story. This decline has cost the industry approximately $2.5 million a day, N.P.P.C. relayed.

Canada Pork International had estimated on Thursday that pork exports had dropped 5% to 10% because of the flu.