Chickens sit in their enclosures at a poultry farm in Tepatitlan, in Jalisco state.—Reuters Photo
Chickens sit in their enclosures at a poultry farm in Tepatitlan, in Jalisco state.—Reuters Photo

MEXICO CITY: Officials have slain 2.5 million birds at poultry farms in western Mexico over the past three weeks in an attempt to contain a bird flu outbreak, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday.

The virus responsible for Mexico's current bird flu outbreak, H7N3, has occasionally caused human disease in various parts of the world, according to the United Nations, but has not shown itself to be easily transmittable between humans.

Officials said they have visited 148 poultry farms. Of those, bird flu was found in 31 farms, while 34 came up negative and results for the remainder were pending.

Of the 3.4 million affected poultry, “the number of birds that have been sacrificed as a control and eradication measure as of (Monday) is 2.5 million,” the ministry said in a statement.

The outbreak was first detected on June 20 in Jalisco state, and the Mexican government declared a national animal health emergency on July 2 in the face of the aggressive epidemic.

After importing one million vaccines from Pakistan, the farming officials said they have developed a seed-based vaccine that they will deliver to four laboratories to produce over 80 million doses initially.

Health officials keep a close watch on such outbreaks since so-called swine flu broke out in Mexico in 2009. The H1N1 virus spread into a global pandemic that claimed the lives of 17,000 people.

Opinion

Editorial

Maulana’s message
Updated 11 Mar, 2025

Maulana’s message

The problem now is that most jihadi fighters, ideologues refuse to end their "struggle" on advice of state or mainstream clerics.
President’s speech
11 Mar, 2025

President’s speech

PRESIDENT Asif Zardari, addressing Monday’s joint session of parliament to mark the start of a new parliamentary...
Indian takeover
11 Mar, 2025

Indian takeover

BY the time the Champions Trophy final ended, the only indicators that the tournament had been hosted by Pakistan...
Mosquito season
10 Mar, 2025

Mosquito season

AS temperatures rise, the threat of dengue looms large over Pakistan. Its warning signs have already arrived. Dengue...
Reckless rhetoric
10 Mar, 2025

Reckless rhetoric

ONCE again, the Indian leadership gave in to their worst impulses, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar...
Water scarcity
Updated 10 Mar, 2025

Water scarcity

The need to meet climate challenge is even greater when Pakistan is prone to multiple disastrous events at the same time.