The Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) has identified a “presumptive-positive case” of avian influenza at a turkey production facility in Dubois County.
This is the same county where the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial poultry was confirmed in the United States in 2022. In that case, confirmed on February 9, a flock of 29,000 turkeys was affected.
According to the BOAH, this latest presumed case is a commercial flock of young turkeys, and laboratory testing has identified the H5 avian influenza virus. This facility was within the 10-kilometer control zone established with the initial Dubois County flock, and therefore, was already under quarantine.
BOAH stated that the flock was tested after the owner noticed that the birds had dramatically decreased their consumption of water. The tests conducted are being verified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.
There are 26,473 birds in this second turkey flock, and BOAH on its website stated that depopulation procedures on the premises are “ongoing.”
A total of 18 commercial flocks within that control area are presently under quarantine, BOAH stated.
In addition to the Dubois County flock where HPAI has already been confirmed, animal health agencies are also responding to another detection of HPAI in a flock of commercial broilers in Fulton County, Kentucky. That flock was being raised for Tyson Foods.
Also in North America, a commercial turkey flock in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia was confirmed to have the presence of HPAI. There were about 12,000 birds in that flock.
Meanwhile, HPAI has been found in wild birds in New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. There have also been confirmed cases among non-commercial poultry on farms in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
