CDC: Avian flu outbreak in Tennessee poultry poses low risk to humans

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Tennessee Department of Health to minimize any human health risk posed by an H7N9 avian flu outbreak in commercial poultry in Lincoln County, TN, the agency said yesterday. According to USDA, the virus is not the same as the China H7N9 virus that has impacted poultry and infected humans in Asia. While the Tennessee outbreak has high potential to produce disease in domestic chickens, no human infections have been detected, and CDC considers the risk to public health low. The agency recommends that the public avoid wild birds and contact with domestic birds that appear ill or have died, among other precautions.