http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=15681 POULTRY NEWS H5N1 bird flu suspected in Israel http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=15681by Alicia Karapetian on 3/20/2006 for Meatingplace.com The European Union banned Israeli poultry imports on the news that officials had found the country's first case of the deadly H5N1 virus. Thousands of birds died as a result of the virus on two farms where infected poultry were confirmed, while another two farms are conducting tests to confirm the presence of H5N1. Israeli officials are blocking the area around the farms to quarantine the birds and prevent humans from coming into contact with them. The culling of hundreds of thousands of birds will most likely occur as soon as the Israeli agriculture ministry has protective clothing, something officials hope the United States will provide.
OK E.L. Does all of our US poulrty come from the US ? or do we purchase some from abroad? THat could be a deciding factor when I'm eating lunch
I know from the reports it looks like if it holds off that long we may do a bigh chicken kill when we get together in June and toss them on the grill. I have already figured even if its not local if it hits anywhere in the region all our chickens will be killed and burned and its looking like that is highly likely this summer.
The technical answer: Meat, poultry, and egg products imported to the U.S. must originate in countries and plants that are eligible to export to the U.S. Certificates are issued by the government of the exporting country and are required to accompany imported meat, poultry, and egg products to identify products by country and plants of origin, destination, shipping marks and amounts. They certify that the products are wholesome, not adulterated or misbranded; that they otherwise comply with U.S. requirements; and, for meat and poultry products, that they received anti-mortem and post-mortem inspection. For more information, contact Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 1-800-601-9327 or visit FSIS (Importing to United States) website (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/IPS/Importing.htm#ForeignPlants) http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/equivalence_process/index.asp . In layman's terms, Yes, we do. However, the amounts of poultry that are imported are so miniscule in the context of how much U.S. hatched, raised, slaughtered, and processed that are consumed here, that I would expect that if you did consume some poultry from overseas, it would be very, very, rare. How rare, I am not sure but I will do some fact finding and check it out. We produce, slaughter and process more poultry than anyone in the world, and as such we import very little. I would expect that about the only way you would run into it would be to go to a speciality shop, such as one of a different culture. Even then I expect that 99% would be U.S. raised. Now, we do import a lot of beef. I cannot remember though of ever seeing imported poultry in one of the 60+plants in three states that were under my jurisdiction. When the Avian Flu H5N1 hits the U.S., I doubt that we see as quick widespread infection as many of the third world countries have seen. Our domestic flocks are raised in walled houses with roofs, and as such I would expect to see the contamination as not likely to happen as countries where chickens are raised outdoors, in pens, no roofs, co-mingling with other birds and having the likely hood of fecal droppings on and around them from wild birds. Here the farmers keep a lighter lid on things. Do I expect flocks to test positive, yes I do, but not as widespread as we are seeing in other countries. Our birds in hatcheries and farms are controlled tighter. When your livelihood depends upon how many birds make it, they are babied and watched closely until they are shipped out on trucks in crates. I have seen a lot of commercial chicken houses, most are pretty new and they are protected from the elements a lot better than you would think. I had friends that raised chickens, and when they had a bunch in they couldn't leave the farm. At least not for 40+ days. The poultry that I would stay away from are the so-called "free-range" chickens that can supposedly leave the houses at will to enter the penned open air courtyards.
One thing to remember about H5N1 is that it is a virus. It is transferred from poultry to poultry, and from poultry to mammals (such as humans) through the bodily fluids, such as feces. The virus does not live long outside of it's host, it dies quickly in the open air. Also, irregardless of whether or not a bird has it, if it is cooked then the virus is dead. The potential for cross contamination is there during processing and food handling, so use gloves when cutting up chickens and be sure and clean everything, surfaces, cutting boards, knives, utensils, counter tops, etc. that the raw poultry touches. Just like you should already. And never, ever let the RTE (ready-to-eat) cooked food come into contact with anything touched by the raw poultry unless it was washed. The cross contamination can kill you, H5N1 or not.