Dive Brief:

• Japan and Russia will once again accept imports of poultry from Arkansas.
• The two nations, as well as the U.S. states of Mississippi and Georgia, had banned shipments of poultry from Arkansas after the H7N7 virus was detected on a farm in Scott County in June.
• The entire flock at that farm, which supplied birds to Tyson Foods Inc., was euthanized to prevent the spread of the disease.
• State officials say the farm has been sterilized and no new infections have been found. 

Dive Insight:

This appears to be one of those instances where everyone involved did the right thing when the food supply was threatened. The virus was first detected by a Tyson employee, who reported it. The farm stopped shipments and exterminated the fleet. Shippers and other countries halted movements of anything that could be infected. State officials tested, cleaned and tested again.

Now the crisis is over. Russia and Japan are once again buying Arkansas poultry. Hong Kong, Mainland China and Turkey are expected to follow suit. Our congratulations, and our thanks, go out to everyone involved.