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Disease outbreak among poultry in the U.S., threatening the supply of kosher chicken for Jewish consumers, and even brought closure of Kosher Empire's largest slaughterhouse, which is under the supervision of the OU kashrus organization for Passover - a time when there is an increased amount of slaughtered birds - for a whole day last week, and another day last week, after serious problems were found in the tendons of poultry.
The disease in question is a new strain of bird flu called reovirus, which cannot harm humans. But the damage it causes tendons of infected birds makes them treif according to halacha. Kosher Empire reportedly found about 25% of infected poultry, forcing the management of the slaughterhouse, to close down for 48 hours, until their dimensions are revealed and they find solutions to deal with the issue.
The virus is a real threat to the poultry industry and kosher slaughter. The great eruption occurred seven weeks ago, however, the slaughter industry officials say that the virus is already under control.
The outbreak has affected especially the chickens reared in Pennsylvania, which provides a lot of kosher birds in North America. But now there is a vaccine available to treat the virus which had mutated since October.
According to Patricia Dunn, professor and poultry veterinarian at the University of Pennsylvania, the birds reared in flocks and treated with the vaccine were available for slaughter in January.
"Highlight of this issue was in late January and early February," says Eli Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the slaughterhouse, who objected to data published, and declared that it was a total of only 10%.
"Meanwhile there are no shortages yet, nor increased prices, but when there is such a high percentage of birds revealed with the virus, it is a standard halachic problems found in any normal slaughter in slaughterhouses, then it raises some concern, but we hope to overcome it," they said in OU.
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