Mexico reports first outbreak of H5N1 bird flu on poultry farm

(Corrects to show report is citing Mexican authorities in paragraph 3)

PARIS (Reuters) -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, just a month after Mexico declared its country free of the disease.

The spread of the highly contagious virus is raising concern among governments and the poultry industry after it ravaged flocks around the globe in the past years, disrupting supply, fueling food prices and posing a risk of human transmission.

The outbreak detected in the northwestern state of Sorona killed 15,000 of a flock of 90,000 laying hens, with the remaining birds being slaughtered, the Paris-based WOAH said, citing a report from Mexican 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.

Animal safety agency Senascia urged local farmers to reinforce biosecurity measures on their farms and to immediately notify of any anomaly observed in their animals in order to protect the national poultry production, it added.