A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in a flock of commercial broilers in Stoddard County, Missouri.
The new case was announced by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on March 4. Information concerning the size of the flock has not yet been released.
Stoddard County is located in the southeastern portion of the state.
Samples from the flock were tested at the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, and confirmed at the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa.
APHIS is working closely with state animal health officials in Missouri on a joint incident response. State officials quarantined the affected premises, and birds on the properties will be depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease.
This case in Missouri marks the ninth case of HPAI in commercial poultry in the United States in 2022, and the second case in a commercial broiler flock. The other one was located in Fulton County, Kentucky, affecting 246,000 chickens.
In addition to those two cases involving broiler operations, the virus has also been confirmed in a commercial layer flock in New Castle County, Delaware, as well as seven commercial turkey operations – six in Indiana and one in Kentucky.
The presence of HPAI in a commercial turkey flock in Nova Scotia, Canada, was also confirmed earlier in 2022.
To date, HPAI has been confirmed in three of the four flyways. Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky are in the Mississippi Flyway, while Delaware and Nova Scotia are located in the Atlantic Flyway. While no HPAI cases have been confirmed in commercial poultry in the Pacific Flyway, it has been confirmed in a bald eagle found in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Wild bird detections, in accordance with World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) international standards, should not result in any trade restrictions.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
