After the United States went more than a month without any new cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial poultry, at least one new case has emerged.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), HPAI was confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in Sanpete County, Utah, on July 14. The flock included 15,500 birds.
Prior to this, the last case of HPAI in the United States was confirmed on June 9 in a commercial layer pullet flock in Weld County, Colorado, whereas the last HPAI case in commercial poultry in North America was confirmed on July 9 in La Jacqeues-Cartier, Quebec, Canada.
Sanpete County case marks the second confirmed case of HPAI in a commercial flock in Utah in 2022. The previous case, confirmed on April 25, involved a commercial layer flock in Cache County. There were 1.5 million birds in that flock. There were also four backyard flock infections in Utah, and one infection at a petting zoo/exhibition farm.
No new avian influenza cases in South Dakota
APHIS, on July 18, also included in its website that HPAI was confirmed in a commercial turkey flock of 43,900 turkeys in McPherson County, South Dakota. However, the agency later that day removed information concerning that case from its website.
WATT Global Media reached out to APHIS for clarification on the matter, and Tanya Espinosa, APHIS public affairs specialist, responded in an email, stating that it was reported erroneously, and that information was removed from the website as quickly as possible.
Between commercial and backyard poultry, South Dakota has had More than 1.6 million birds affected by HPAI in 2022. Not taking into account any new cases, the state’s most recent case was confirmed on May 3 in a commercial turkey flock in Beadle County.
So far in 2022, HPAI has been confirmed in commercial poultry in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Utah. The virus has also been found in commercial game bird operations in Texas, New York and South Dakota.
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.
