Market News & Headlines >> Bird Flu Confirmed in Arkansas

 USDA has confirmed the discovery of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza in a commercial turkey flock in Arkansas, the third-largest U.S. turkey producer and home to Tyson Foods Inc., the nation's largest chicken company.

 The flock in Boone County, Arkansas, is located within the Mississippi flyway, a migratory route along which the same strain of bird flu has previously been identified in turkey flocks in Minnesota and Missouri.

 The H5N2 strain was confirmed in a pair of turkey flocks in Asbury, Missouri and Fortuna, Missouri earlier this week.  It was not immediately clear how many birds were affected.]

 The spread of the disease has spurred concerns that import restrictions against U.S. poultry products will widen, especially if the virus reaches the chicken industry. A number of countries have already restricted imports of U.S. poultry following previous bird flu cases.

 More than 40 countries have banned poultry produced in Minnesota since H5N2 bird flu was confirmed in western Minnesota last week. Mexico, the top importer of U.S. chicken and turkey, this week expanded bans to restrict poultry shipments from California, Missouri and Minnesota,