75K chickens destroyed after bird flu found at Tyson supplier in Tennessee

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

8 years ago

FILE – In this Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009, file photo, a Tyson Foods, Inc., truck is parked at a food warehouse in Little Rock, Ark. Tyson Foods said Monday, March 6, 2017, a strain of bird flu sickened chickens at a poultry breeder that supplies it with birds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the 73,500 birds at the Lincoln County, Tenn., facility were destroyed and none of the birds from the flock will enter the food system. The H7 strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI, can be deadly for chickens and turkeys. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)

NEW YORK — Tens of thousands of chickens have been destroyed at a Tennessee chicken farm due to a bird flu outbreak, and 30 other farms within a six-mile radius are being quarantined.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 73,500 chickens were destroyed and will not enter the food system. The highly pathogenic H7 avian influenza, or HPAI, can be deadly to chickens and turkeys.

The breeder supplies Tyson Foods Inc. The company said that it doesn’t expect its chicken business to be disrupted, but shares of the Springdale, Arkansas, food producer slid 3 percent in early trading Monday.

Tennessee’s Department of Agriculture declined to name the breeder and would only say it is located in the state’s Lincoln County, just west of Chattanooga.