Bird flu in Michigan
TEXT OF STORY
MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: The government says a strain of bird flu has been found in some wild birds in Michigan. But Sarah Hulett reports that state’s poultry industry isn’t getting very worked up about it, yet.
SARAH HULETT: Initial tests suggest the type of virus found in the mute swans near the Michigan-Ohio border is not the deadly H5-N1 strain.
But researchers won’t know for sure until the birds are more thoroughly tested at a national lab.
The group that represents Michigan’s poultry producers says farms already have strict procedures for sanitation, monitoring and surveillance.
George House is with the Michigan Allied Poultry Industries.
GEORGE HOUSE: It probably won’t change how farms are acting a great deal, because they’re already on a pretty high state of readiness.
The H5-N1 virus has jumped from birds to humans in other parts of the world, killing more than a hundred people.
Scientists worry that it could land in the US through migratory birds.
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, I’m Sarah Hulett for Marketplace.
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