New cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) were confirmed, involving six Minnesota turkey flocks and a North Carolina broiler flock.
Two of those cases in Minnesota, as well as the one in North Carolina, were announced on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) website, following the confirmation of the cases on April 7. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health (MBAH) reported four additional cases in commercial turkey flocks.
The largest flock of those announced by APHIS to be affected was a commercial turkey flock in Renville County, which included 76,381 turkeys. This is Renville County’s first case of HPAI. The other flock in Minnesota where the virus was confirmed was in Kandiyohi County, which included 20,250 turkeys. Avian influenza has been confirmed in five turkey flocks in Kandiyohi County so far in 2022.
Recently confirmed cases announced by MBAH include:
- A flock of 30,000 commercial turkeys in Otter Tail County
- A flock of 38,000 commercial turkeys in LaSueur County
- A flock of 26,293 commercial turkeys in Stearns County
- A flock of 145,000 commercial turkeys in Swift County
None of those four cases have yet been announced by APHIS.
The recently affected broiler flock was in Wayne County, North Carolina, which involved 18,546 broilers. Wayne County has also had five cases of HPAI in 2022. Three of those were in commercial broiler flocks and two were in commercial turkey flocks.
To date, North Carolina has had eight cases of HPAI in commercial poultry – all of which were either in Wayne County or Johnston County. Nearly 392,000 birds in the state have been affected by HPAI.
Minnesota has had 22 cases in commercial poultry, with more than 1 million turkeys affected. Minnesota counties where the virus has been confirmed are Kandiyohi, Renville, Swift, Otter Tail, Waseca, Dodge, Meeker, Morrison, Big Stone, Stearns, LeSueur, Becker and Lac Qui Parle.
So far in 2022, HPAI has been confirmed in commercial poultry flocks in the following states: North Dakota, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Indiana, North Carolina, Minnesota and Texas. The Texas case involved pheasants.
The virus has also been confirmed in poultry in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
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.
