Six birds test positive for avian flu in Orange County
Two birds, a turkey and a turkey vulture, from Orange County are among the five birds tested in a nationwide search for the first victims of a deadly H5N1 virus.
According to the public health alert from Orange County, three out of four of the birds tested positive for the virus. The fourth bird tested negative for the virus.
“The three birds that tested positive are wild birds that had contact with a sick person in the past four days,” according to the Orange County Public Health Department.
The alert also states that in addition to the turkey and the turkey vulture, two other birds tested positive for the virus.
The sick person is a 65-year-old New Jersey resident who previously worked in an orange grove in the Cape May-Cabell circuit, according to the alert. The person had traveled to Texas, and that is where the infected birds had contact with him.
The other two cases are two birds from Mexico with no known contact with the sick person.
The alert urges consumers to get the contact list for the company that took over operation of the turkey farm in Portage. The alert also urges consumers to check the Internet to see if the bird shown on the label is the one they are buying.
“We urge people to buy the bird with the label on it that says ‘turkey,’ as we believe that is the bird that was infected,” the alert states.
So far, the alert states that the virus has not been found in birds in Florida.
The alert states that birds are likely being imported. The alert states that ‘”We have identified additional infected birds and have been unable to isolate this virus from sick birds. Some infected poultry have tested positive in Texas, New Jersey and elsewhere. We continue to work closely with state officials to identify the source and the extent of the outbreak for the entire United States and