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WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H7 avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial chicken breeder flock in Tennessee.
As a result, 73,500 birds will be destroyed at the farm in the state's Lincoln County to prevent the spread of the disease, the USDA said Monday.
"This is the first confirmed case of HPAI in commercial poultry in the United States this year," it said in a statement. "Birds from the flock will not enter the food system."
Prior to this HPAI case, the most recent U.S. detection was in January of 2016 in a commercial turkey flock in Indiana, the Tennessee department of agriculture said.
Tyson Foods, which contracted the Tennessee farm, said all flocks located within a six-mile (9.7 kilometers) radius of the farm will be tested and will not be transported unless they test negative for the virus.
"Based on the limited scope known to us at this time, we don't expect disruptions to our chicken business and plan to meet our customers' needs," the company said in a statement.
