Reuters/Chicago

The US department of agriculture has identified the first infection of a virulent strain of avian flu in poultry in Kansas, confirming the virus has spread into a migratory bird route that runs through the centre of the country.
The discovery of the H5N2 flu strain in a backyard chicken and duck flock in a county just outside Kansas City, is certain to lead to expanded restrictions on US poultry exports from top trading partners like Mexico and Canada.
The infection, confirmed on Friday by the US department of agriculture, was the first case in an established migratory bird route, known as the central flyway, that stretches roughly north-south from Montana to Texas.
Kansas officials quarantined the infected property in Leavenworth County, and birds there will be culled to prevent the spread of the disease. A quarantine zone will be established for miles around the site to limit the movement of poultry.
“We are dedicated to providing the necessary assistance and precautions to avoid any possible spreading of the disease,” said Bill Brown, Kansas’ animal health commissioner,
The USDA will inform international trading partners and an international animal health organisation of the infection. Major buyers of US poultry have already restricted imports from other states that have recently been infected with the same flu strain.
Last week, the USDA identified the first case in Arkansas, in the heart of the US poultry-producing region.
Molecular testing has shown the virus found in recent infections is nearly identical to viruses isolated in migratory ducks. But some wildlife experts are skeptical of suggestions that wild birds are responsible for spreading the flu in the Midwest.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the risk to people from highly pathogenic flu infections in wild birds and poultry to be low, according to the USDA statement.
lAt least 10 Americans possibly exposed to the deadly Ebola virus were being flown to the United States from Sierra Leone for observation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.
They will be transported by non-commercial air transport and will be housed near the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, or Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, the CDC said.
All of the individuals who are being flown back to the United States are free of symptoms, the CDC said.
A US healthcare worker who tested positive for Ebola while in Sierra Leone arrived at the NIH on Friday and was in serious condition, the NIH said.
It is not clear how the person became infected with Ebola, CDC said.
While the virus has killed about 10,000 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, only a handful of cases have been seen in the United States, Spain and Britain.
CDC spokesman Thomas Skinner said 10 people who may have been exposed to the unidentified Ebola patient or who had a similar exposure to the virus as the patient were being flown to the United States. But he said the investigation was continuing and there may be more Americans evacuated from Africa.
A CDC statement said the 10 individuals will follow the centre’s recommended monitoring and movement guidelines during the 21-day incubation period.
If someone shows symptoms, they will be transported to an Ebola treatment centre for evaluation and care, the CDC said.
On Friday, CDC sent a team to Sierra Leone to investigate how the healthcare worker became exposed, and determine who might have been in contact with the infected person.
CDC spokesman Benjamin Haynes did not know where all of the patients would be sent, but he said the CDC is working out a plan with the US state department to determine who is coming back and where they will be sent.
The CDC said one patient was being sent to Emory University Hospital’s special isolation unit, where several Ebola patients have already been treated.
Four others are being sent to Nebraska Medical Center to be near their special isolation unit in case they develop Ebola symptoms.