The following statement has been issued on behalf of the National Turkey Federation, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council, United Egg Producers and USA Poultry & Egg Export Council:

“In light of the recent detections of avian influenza (AI) in the United States, the U.S. poultry industry would like to assure the public that detailed response plans are in place for controlling the spread of the virus and for eliminating the virus entirely. The U.S. government and poultry industries have sophisticated systems and techniques to detect the introduction of the virus into a commercial poultry flock and have proven methods to quickly eliminate the virus. The U.S. poultry industry has a strong avian influenza testing and detection program administered by the federal National Poultry Improvement Plan, in addition to each state’s individual response plan. Poultry farmers also maintain strict biosecurity measures year-round, keep their flocks protected from wild birds and routinely test flocks for avian influenza.

The network of state and federal agencies, working in conjunction with the poultry industry, has already executed procedures to quarantine any affected flock and reduce the impact of these instances. None of birds from the affected flocks are viable for sale and have not entered the food chain.