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Observers tag this season as the deadliest outbreak of the H7N9 bird flu in China as government officials have recorded 161 deaths since October 2016. The US is also wary of the avian flu as news of outbreaks has also been reported in Tennessee and Georgia.

China has just announced that there are six new cases in Hunan province that included one death. A total of 161 deaths related to the H7N9 bird flu in China were already recorded in this avian flu season, the South China Morning Post reported. Provincial health authorities have said that 79 of the deaths were reported in the month of January alone.

The health authorities in Changsa also disclosed that these new cases have been recorded despite the total poultry ban that has been in effect since March 17, the News.com.au reported. The confirmed source of H7N9 bird flu in China was on a farm with over 29,000 chickens and prompted the health officers to cull 170,000 chickens in an effort to stave off the spread of infection.

Several US states have also confirmed outbreaks of the avian flu. The latest reports were from Wisconsin, Georgia, Minnesota, and Tennessee, where at least 74,000 chickens were culled. The USDA for its part informed the poultry industry of the outbreak through the World Organization for Animal Health.

The organization is now deciding if there will be a ban on chicken products from Tennessee as the bird flu outbreak there was caused by the deadly H7 strain.

The USDA also has issued a directive to temporarily stop people from organizing poultry fairs to mitigate the spread around the states. The avian flu was also recorded in Kentucky and Wisconsin. Farmers hope that this new outbreak in the US will not be a repeat of the last major outbreak where approximately 9 million chickens had to be destroyed in Minnesota alone and caused a $500 million damage to the state economy.