Cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been confirmed in commercial flocks in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado, while a presumed positive case has been reported in Indiana.
At the same time, seven new cases were recently confirmed in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Three HPAI cases reported in Iowa
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) issued a press release on December 9 that HPAI was confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in Sac County. Two days later, the agency issued another press release, this time stating that HPAI had been confirmed in commercial turkey flocks in Cherokee and Buena Vista counties.
IDALS did not disclose how many birds were involved in any of those three flocks, but that information should be released at a later date by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Iowa has had 23 commercial poultry flocks affected by HPAI so far in 2022. Six of those have been in Buena Vista County, while Sac and Cherokee counties have each had three.
Minnesota has 80th avian flu case
According to information from APHIS, HPAI was confirmed on December 8 in a commercial turkey flock in Dodge County, Minnesota, a second confirmed case for the county.
In this particular case, 10,000 birds were affected.
So far in 2022, Minnesota has had 80 commercial poultry operations affected by HPAI, resulting in the loss of approximately 3.9 million birds.
South Dakota has 58th avian flu case
Also on December 8, HPAI was confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in Hamlin County, South Dakota. There were 58,100 turkeys involved.
This marks the second case in a commercial flock in Hamlin County for 2022, and the 58th case for the state. So far this year, about 2.5 million South Dakota birds have been lost to HPAI, according to APHIS.
Avian flu in Missouri
APHIS reported on December 9 that HPAI was confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in Osage County Missouri, making it the state’s eighth case in commercial poultry this year, but a first for the county.
This case affected 19,700 turkeys.
Avian flu in Colorado
The presence of HPAI was confirmed in a commercial upland gamebird operation in Prowers County, Colorado, affecting about 18,000 birds.
This is the first confirmed HPAI case in Prowers County and the sixth for the state. To date, about 4.7 million birds in Colorado have been lost to the virus.
Presumed positive case in Indiana
The Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) announced that a commercial turkey flock in Daviess County on December 11 tested presumptive-positive for H5 avian influenza virus. The flock included 11,394 turkeys.
BOAH stated that samples will be tested at the USDA national laboratory in Iowa for confirmation.
7 new cases in British Columbia
Over a three-day period, HPAI was confirmed in seven commercial poultry flocks in British Columbia.
According to information from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), two new cases were confirmed in Abbotsford on December 9, while one was confirmed in Langley Township. The following day, two more cases were confirmed in Abbotsford and one in Chilliwack. On December 11, one more case was confirmed in Abbotsford.
CFIA has not released information concerning the types of birds in these flocks, or how many birds were involved.
With these new cases, British Columbia has now had 59 confirmed cases of HPAI in 2022. Of those, 37 have been in Abbotsford, while 14 have been in Chilliwack and six have been in Langley Township. North Okahagan and the District of Kent have each had one confirmed case.
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.
