Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has resurfaced in California, as the virus has struck a commercial poultry flock in the state for the first time since early February.
According to information from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the presence of the virus was confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in Merced County on October 23. The flock included 31,600 turkeys.
The only other commercial flock in California to be affected by HPAI in 2023 was a duck breeder flock, also in Merced County.
In 2022, 15 commercial poultry flocks in California experienced HPAI infections, with the first of those being confirmed on August 22 of that year. Those cases led to the loss of about 707,000 birds in the state.
Avian flu continues to spread in Minnesota
APHIS also reported that another premises in Minnesota has been hit by HPAI. The state’s most recent infection took place in a flock of 34,400 commercial meat turkeys in Meeker County.
The Meeker County flock is the 90th commercial poultry operation in Minnesota to be struck by HPAI in the 2022-23 outbreak. The state’s first case was confirmed on March 26, 2022. Of those 90 affected flocks, 11 have been in Meeker County, with three of those being confirmed this month.
So far in 2023, the HPAI has struck commercial poultry or gamebird operations in the following states: Minnesota, California, Iowa, South Dakota, Utah, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Virginia and Tennessee.
In Canada, HPAI has struck commercial poultry in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec in 2023.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
