The first U.S. state to have a confirmed case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial poultry flock during the 2022-23 outbreak has been declared HPAI-free by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
With the designation, Indiana is now allowed to export poultry and poultry products, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) announced in a press release.
However, BOAH cautioned that the designation is not an “all-clear” and that the risk of the disease remains, as HPAI has been identified on 825 premises in 47 states since February 2022, and the virus remains active in wild bird populations.
Indiana became the first state to have a commercial poultry flock affected by HPAI during the present outbreak, when the presence of the virus was confirmed in a commercial turkey operation on February 8, 2022. Since that time, nine other commercial flocks in Indiana had the presence of HPAI confirmed, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), while another flock was depopulated because of its close association with a previously infected flock. All flocks affected either involved meat turkeys, meat ducks or duck breeding stock.
When compared to other states, Indiana ranked eighth in terms of the number of commercial flocks lost to HPAI in 2022, and 18th in regard to the number of commercial birds lost.
The last case of HPAI in a commercial poultry flock in the state was confirmed on December 13, 2022. According to APHIS, no HPAI cases have been confirmed in commercial poultry or backyard poultry in Indiana so far in 2023.
Under WOAH guidelines, HPAI-free status can be declared for a state or region after the disease has been eliminated on all affected farms and no new infections are detected during a minimum waiting period of 28 days.
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.
