Turkeys slaughtered, depopulated due to avian flu

About 13,000 mature turkeys were sent to slaughter and 14,000 six-week-old turkeys were depopulated after infection with avian influenza was discovered on a southwestern Missouri farm, state agriculture officials said.

The outbreak involved subclinical infection with a low-pathogenic H7N3 avian influenza virus, which was detected in late March as a result of routine surveillance of a flock in Polk County, Mo., according to information from the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

The turkey facility was quarantined immediately after state officials received preliminary test results that indicated the presence of the virus, and subsequent tests did not detect shedding of the virus. The adult birds were released from quarantine March 31 and subsequently shipped to a processing facility, and the younger birds were depopulated on the farm.

"Low pathogenic avian influenza is very rarely transmitted to humans and does not pose a health threat or risk to the food supply," information from the Missouri agriculture department states.

Poultry flocks within six miles of the outbreak farm were tested and monitored following the outbreak, agriculture department information states.