The Minnesota Board of Animal Health says six new cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been reported in the state.
The newest cases were all confirmed on April 19, and all involved commercial turkey flocks.
Two of those cases were in Morrison County, affecting 18,000 and 10,369 birds.
The largest flock of those most recently affected was in Meeker County, where 53,069 birds were affected. A flock in Kandiyohi County had 36,210 turkeys, while HPAI cases in Otter Tail and Swift Counties had 29,751 and 31,700 turkeys, respectively.
So far in 2022, Morrison County has had nine cases of HPAI, Kandiyohi County has had eight, Meeker County has had four, Otter Tail County has had three and Swift County has had two.
According to the state agency, Minnesota has had 46 confirmed cases of HPAI in 2022, although four of those involved backyard flocks and should not have an impact on international trade. The total number of commercial birds – which includes meat turkeys, turkey breeding hens, laying hens and broilers – that have been affected by HPAI in 2022 was 2,117,872 as of noontime on April 20.
Other Minnesota counties with confirmed cases of HPAI in 2022 include Blue Earth, Waseca, Yellow Medicine, LeSueur, Renville, Dodge, Becker, Stearns and Lac Qui Parle.
In addition to Minnesota, HPAI has been confirmed in poultry in the following states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. In addition the virus has been confirmed in commercial game bird operations in Texas, New York and South Dakota.
Presently, 165 flocks in the United States and Canada have been affected by HPAI in 2022, amounting to 129.1 million birds. However, that number does not include the amount of birds in several Canadian cases in which the flock sizes have not yet been released.
To learn more about HPAI cases in North American commercial poultry flocks, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
Read our ongoing coverage of the global avian influenza outbreak.
