Arkansas this week completed its follow-up testing of chickens in Scott County and found no new evidence of H7N7 avian influenza, said Preston Scroggin, director of the state Livestock and Poultry Commission. “For all intents and purposes, we’re done with our testing,” Scroggin said.
Scroggin said the follow-up testing this week ended late Monday and early Tuesday on about 10 commercial chicken houses and 52 “backyard flocks,” with none turning up any evidence of bird flu. From this point, federal and international officials will conduct another round of testing in three months to determine whether to lift the ban on Arkansas poultry that some countries and states have imposed, Scroggin said.
Arkansas poultry has been banned in Russia, Japan, and Hong Kong after bird flu was discovered in June at a Scott County farm, officials said. The country of Turkey also has joined the ban, Scroggin said on Thursday. In addition, China had been in discussions with state officials also about a possible ban, but has decided to continue purchasing poultry from the state, Scroggin said. Arkansas is working with officials in the places where Arkansas poultry is banned to have sales reinstated.
The commission received confirmation of the positive test on June 18 and quarantined all poultry within a 6.2-mile radius of the Scott County chicken house facility where avian influenza was located. Approximately 9,000 birds were culled in the area as a precaution.
