Washington - A case of the bird flu virus was found in a poultry farm in Texas, the fourth American state to be affected by the disease, state government officials said on Friday.
The Texas Animal Health Commission said a flock of chickens in Gonzales County tested positive for the H5N2 strain of avian influenza, a milder version of the potentially deadly disease.
"The clinical manifestation, or signs of disease in chickens, indicates this virus is a low-pathogenic strain," said Texas state veterinarian Bob Hillman.
Hillman said the Texas case posed "no health threat to humans and causes relatively low mortality in chickens".
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Texas becomes the fourth US state in two weeks to be affected by bird flu. Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have also reported mild strains of the virus.
State officials said it did not appear that bird flu had spread from the East Coast states into Texas.
"At present, there does not appear to be any connection between the cases on the East Coast and the infected flock in Texas," Hillman said.
The US bird flu strains were different from the H5N1 strain that has devastated poultry flocks in Asia and claimed at least 22 lives there.
More than 20 countries have banned imports of some or all US poultry. Russia, the top US poultry buyer, earlier on Friday placed a temporary ban on Texas chickens even before it was publicly announced.
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