A strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected at a commercial turkey operation near the Indiana-Kentucky border.
The HPAI infection detected in Dubois County, Indiana, marks the first confirmed case of the disease in a commercial flock since 2020, according to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The facility has been quarantined and birds in the flock have been depopulated and will not enter the food system.
The disease had been detected in wild birds in recent weeks. USDA disclosed three detections of the H5N1 strain in January; two birds were found with the virus in Colleton County, South Carolina and another tested positive in Hyde County, North Carolina. The last major outbreak of the disease in commercial U.S. poultry ended in 2015.
APHIS did not disclose the strain of the virus detected in Indiana.
The agency says HPAI “does not present an immediate public health concern” and that no human cases of the virus have been detected in the United States. Consumers are recommended to fully cook poultry to 165 degrees and to practice safe handling techniques.
APHIS recommends anyone “involved with poultry production from the small backyard to the large commercial producer should review their biosecurity activities to assure the health of their birds.”
USDA said it would report the finding to the World Organization for Animal Health.
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.
