Mexico reports first outbreak of H5N1 bird flu on farm

Mexico reported its first outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu on a farm this season, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said in a report on Thursday, citing local authorities.

Mexico reported its first outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu on a farm this season, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said in a report on Thursday, citing local authorities. "As a result of the passive epidemiological surveillance carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 of this season was reported in a poultry production unit in the municipality of Cajeme, Sonora," it said.

The report says the subtype of the virus is H5N1. Mexican animal safety authorities early last month had confirmed the first case of H5N1 avian influenza in a wild bird after declaring the country's poultry farms free of the virus earlier in the day.