The number of birds in commercial poultry and gamebird operations to be lost to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the United States in 2022 is steadily approaching 50 million, with 25 of the 50 states having at least one confirmed case of HPAI.
Some of those 25 affected states have been much harder hit. Below is a list that ranks the states by how many birds have been lost as a result of HPAI infections. The information used to compile this list was obtained from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) as well as some state agriculture agencies. This list includes the confirmed cases of HPAI up to November 8.
An earlier article that ranked each state on the number of flocks affected by HPAI also appears on WATTPoultry.com, but since flock sizes vary, the rankings among the two lists are different.
1. Iowa
Iowa has lost more than three times as many birds than any other state at nearly 15.5 million. While Iowa ranks fifth in terms of the number of flocks affected, the average size of the flocks lost have been larger. Two affected layer flocks involved more than 5 million laying hens each, while three others have involved more than a million. One more affected flock included 915,900 birds. The first case in the state was confirmed on March 6, while the most recent case was confirmed on November 6.
2. Nebraska
Like Iowa, Nebraska’s rank in terms of bird losses far outweighs its rank in terms of flock losses. Nebraska tied with Missouri as the state with the tenth most flocks lost, but the size of some affected flocks has made a big difference. The state has lost more than 5 million birds, including a layer flock of 2.1 million hens and another with 1.7 million hens. Two large broiler flocks that collectively involved 988,500 birds also pushed those numbers up. These cases were all confirmed between March 22 and October 18.
3. Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, which has had 23 flocks affected, ranks third in terms of both flocks lost and birds lost. The state has so far lost about 4.32 million birds, but that number doesn't include the birds in a flock where HPAI was confirmed on November 8 because information concerning the size of that flock has not been released. Two of the state’s affected flocks have involved more than 1 million laying hens, while another included 879,400 laying hens.
4. Colorado
On the heels of Pennsylvania is Colorado, with losses of about 4.29 million. Three of the affected flocks have contained more than 1 million laying hens, with the largest of those including 1.94 million.
5. Minnesota
Minnesota has had more flocks affected than any other state with 77. However, most of those flocks have involved commercial turkey operations with smaller numbers than most layer flocks. Roughly 3.8 million birds have been lost, with the largest affected flock involving 287,500 turkeys.
6. Ohio
Ohio has only had one flock affected by HPAI, but that was a commercial layer flock of 3,748,500 birds, just shy of the total amount of birds lost in 77 Minnesota flocks.
7. Wisconsin
Wisconsin, which has lost the seventh most flocks, also ranks seventh in terms of birds lost at just over 3.3 million. The vast majority of those birds were in a flock of 2.75 million layers in Jefferson County. A total of 11 flocks in the state have been affected in 2022.
8. Utah
Utah, which ranks fourth among states regarding flock losses at 19, ranks eighth for birds lost at 2.1 million, with most of those being from a flock of 1.5 million laying hens in Cache County. All other cases in the state have involved turkey operations in Sanpete County.
9. South Dakota
South Dakota, which ranks second for flocks lost to HPAI at 44, ranked ninth for birds lost at about 1.83 million. The majority of the affected flocks have been turkey farms, but the largest case in the state involved 120,300 laying hens.
10. Maryland
Four flocks in Maryland have been affected by HPAI, with the largest involving 663,400 laying hens, and the smallest involving 139,300 broilers. The state’s total bird losses amount to about 1.76 million.
11. Delaware
Delaware has had three confirmed HPAI cases in 2022, with those three flocks collectively involving 1.44 million birds.
12. California
California has had 14 flocks affected by HPAI, collectively involving 679,500 birds. The largest affected flock involved 161,700 commercial turkeys in Tuolumne County.
13. North Carolina
The nine flocks lost in North Carolina collectively included 481,400 birds. Of those, the largest one had 216,000 broilers.
14. Missouri
Missouri has lost 434,500 birds among six flocks. The biggest of those was the first case to be confirmed in the state – a flock of 294,800 broilers in Stoddard County.
15. Kentucky
Two Kentucky flocks have been affected by HPAI and 284,700 birds have been lost. The largest of those two was a flock of 231,400 broilers in Fulton County.
16. North Dakota
All five of North Dakota’s HPAI cases were in commercial turkey flocks, with 235,600 birds affected. The most sizeable of those five flocks had 69,100 turkeys.
17. Indiana
Indiana was the state where 2022’s first HPAI case in commercial poultry appeared, and eight other cases followed. The state has lost 189,400 birds, with the largest affected flock including 48,200 commercial turkeys.
18. Arkansas
The one HPAI case in Arkansas in 2022, a commercial broiler breeder pullet flock, contained 56,000 birds.
19. Michigan
A flock of 35,100 commercial turkeys in Muskegon County was the site of Michigan’s only HPAI case.
20. Mississippi
The most recent state to be added the list of states with commercial flocks infected by HPAI is Mississippi, which on November 5 had a commercial flock of 34,900 broiler breeders infected.
21. Oklahoma
A commercial broiler breeder flock of 13,800 birds in Sequoyah County is the only confirmed case of HPAI to date in 2022 in Oklahoma.
22. Idaho
Gooding County, Idaho, was where an upland gamebird operation was affected by HPAI, making it the state’s only confirmed case. Affected were 9,000 birds.
23. Kansas
A commercial turkey breeder hen flock in McPherson County has been Kansas’ only HPAI case. This flock contained 6,900 birds.
24. New York
New York’s only HPAI case in a commercial operation affected 6,000 upland gamebirds.
25. Texas
Like Idaho and New York, Texas’ only case of HPAI involved upland gamebirds. In this case, 1,700 birds were affected.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
Read our ongoing coverage of the global avian influenza outbreak.
