Mexico reports H5N1 bird flu in wild ducks

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican animal safety authorities confirmed the first case of H5N1 bird flu in a wild bird on Wednesday, after declaring the country's poultry farms free of the virus earlier in the day. A case of H5N1 bird flu was found in a “clinically healthy” migratory duck in the state of Jalisco, the animal safety agency Senasica, part of the Ministry of Agriculture, said in a statement. Previously, the government declared in its official gazette that the country was free of H5N1, almost a year after starting a poultry vaccination campaign in high-risk areas to prevent its spread. Senasica stressed that the confirmed case of H5N1 does not signal an outbreak of the disease nor does it contradict this statement, but it does mean that poultry farmers must be on alert to prevent the entry of infected wild birds. The H5N1-free designation facilitates the sale of live birds, as well as poultry products and by-products originating in Mexico, according to the journal. Last ...