Two suspected cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial turkey flocks in Greene County, Indiana, are now classified as confirmed cases, state and federal animal health agencies announced.
The Indiana Board of Animal Health (BOAH) earlier reported the two presumed-positive cases, in which the turkeys on these farms were tested for the virus and those tests showed the presence of an H5 variant of avian influenza. Samples were sent to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, for confirmation.
According to information published on the BOAH website, as well as the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) website, testing at the NVSL on February 23 confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza of the H5N1 variety in both flocks.
One flock included 48,000 turkeys, while the other included 15,400 turkeys. All of those birds have been depopulated.
With the confirmation of these two flocks, Indiana has had four confirmed cases of HPAI in turkey flocks. Two of those are in Greene County, while the other two previously announced confirmed cases were in Dubois County.
Another presumed-positive case in Dubois County has been reported. That flock has already been depopulated. With the depopulation of those five flocks, a total of 154,781 turkeys in Indiana have been lost to the avian influenza outbreak.
There have also been two confirmed cases of HPAI in Kentucky. One of those was a broiler flock in Fulton County and the other was a turkey flock in Webster County. A case of HPAI was also reported in an unspecified poultry flock in New Castle County, Delaware. Elsewhere in North America, a commercial turkey flock in Nova Scotia, Canada, also was confirmed case of HPAI.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
