The agriculture department in the U.S. state of Maryland says bird flu has been detected at a chicken farm there.
State officials say the 118,000 of the six-week-old birds at the Pokomoke City farm locate in the Eastern Shore area have been quarantined and will destroyed Sunday.
They say another 210,000 chickens at a neighboring farm also will be slaughtered as a precaution. In addition, 71 farms in a 10 kilometer radius of the affected facility are being watched for any sign of the H7 virus.
It is not known, if the strain of the avian flu is related to cases found in the neighboring state of Delaware.
Many countries have banned imports of some or all U.S. poultry products, even though the bird flu strain is different from the one that has swept through Asia in recent months.
That strain, known as H5N1, has killed more than 22 people and devastated poultry flocks across Asia.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.